m 


FROM   THE  LIBRARY  OF 
REV.    LOUIS    FITZGERALD    BENSON.   D.  D. 

BEQUEATHED   BY  HIM  TO 

THE   LIBRARY  OF 

PRINCETON  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


MENNONITES  OF  AMERICA 


The 
Mcnnonitcs 

of 
America 


'V 


APR  23  1932 


// 


A 


OCH''\  rn 


\^v: 


C.  HENRY  SMITH,  A.  M.,  Ph.  D.  (Chicago) 
Professor  of  History  in  Goshen  College 


Published    by    the    Author 


GOSHEN,  INDIANA. 
1909 


Copyright  1909 
By  C.  HENRY  SMITH 


Mennonite  Publishing  House  Press,    Scottdale,  Pa. 


To  the  memory  of  my 

FATHER 

For  many  years 

a  bishop  in  the  church 

and  my 

MOTHER 

This  volume  is  affectionately 

Dedicated. 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS 

Chapter  Page 

Introduction 13 

I  The  Anabaptists 16 

II  Menno  Simons  and  the  Mennonites  of 

Europe 53 

III  CorneHsz  Pieter  Plockhoy  and  the  Men- 

nonite  Colony  on  the  Delaware  .    .       81 

IV  Germantown 94 

V  The  Pequea  Colony 134 

VI  Franconia 183 

A'^II  Expansion  of  the  Pequea  Colony  before 

1800 192 

VIII  The  Amish 208 

IX  During-  the  Revolution 253 

X  The  Mennonites  of  Ontario 265 

XI  The  Mennonites  During  the  Nineteenth 

Century 275 

1.  Settlements  in  Ohio,  Illinois,  Indi- 

ana and  the  Western  States 

2.  Schisms. 

3.  The  Civil  War. 

XII  The  Immigration  from  Russia 324 

XIII  The  General  Conference  of  Mennonites     343 


10  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

XIV  The  Mennonites  and  the  State   ....  353 

XV-  Principles,  Customs  and  Culture   .    .    .  386 

XVI  Literature  and  Hymnology 409 

XVII  The  Present 446 

XVIII  Bibliography  ' 456 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 


Germantown  Church 

Dirck  Keyser  House 

Thones  Kunders  House 

Old  Bench  and  Table 

Rohrerstown  Church 

Doylestown  Church 

Plot  of  Ground 

Christ  Herr  House 

Brick  Graveyard 

Pequea  Creek 

Conestoga  Wagon 

Skippack  Meeting  House 

Franconia  Graveyard 

Bank  Church 

Weaver  Church 

Kinzer  Church 

Partridge  Church 

Bethel  College 

Schrock  Barn 

Old  Amish  Homestead 

Landisville  Log  Church 

Boehm  Chapel 

How  They  Went  to  Church 

Goshen  College 

Bluffton  College 

John  F.  Funk 

J.  S.  Coffman 

J.  H.  Oberholtzer 

Joseph  Stuckey 


INTRODUCTION 


To  write  a  history  of  the  Mennonites  of  America 
is  not  an  easy  task.  Material  from  which  to  con- 
struct the  complete  life  story  of  the  Mennonite  people 
is  meager,  and  hence  in  the  selection  of  the  subject 
matter  of  this  book  and  in  the  method  of  treatment 
the  dearth  of  material  has  made  it  impossible  for  the 
author  to  exercise  much  choice.  If  more  attention  is 
paid  to  the  early  settlements  made  by  small  colonies  of 
the  denomination  throughout  the  land  and  to  the 
various  church  schisms  than  to  the  history  of  the 
development  of  their  church  life,  it  is  both  because 
more  has  been  recorded  of  the  former  than  of  the  latter, 
and  also  because  when  this  is  told  almost  the  whole 
of  their  story  has  been  recited. 

The  Mennonites  have  almost  invariably  been  a 
rural  people.  They  formed  congregations  which  were 
generally  self-governing  and  independent  of  one 
another,  and  hence  had  little  of  a  common  organized 
church  life.  They  were  a  sober,  quiet  and  unassuming 
people,  took  little  interest  in  government  and  the 
affairs  of  the  outside  world.  They  were  seldom 
molested  in  the  even  tenor  of  their  way  and  conse- 
quently their  history  is  largely  the  story  of  the  life 


14  INTRODUCTION 

of  a  number  of  individual  farming  communities  with 
little  of  special  interest  to  lend  color  to  their  history. 

Although  the  story  of  the  religious  life  of  the 
Mennonites  may  be  told  in  few  words,  yet  they  have 
been  the  founders  of  the  first  German  colony  in 
America  and  have  been  among  the  pioneers  in  many 
of  the  frontier  settlements  in  the  westward  expansion 
of  the  American  people.  And  for  this  reason  their  his- 
tory is  of  interest  also  to  the  student  of  general 
American  history.  I  have  attempted  therefore  to  trace 
in  this  volume  not  only  the  history  of  the  Mennonitc 
church  but  also  the  complete  life  story  of  the  Menno- 
nitc people,  and  have  treated  such  phases  of  the 
subject  as  I  could  find  material  for. 

I  have  attempted  further  to  cover  the  entire  field 
of  American  Mennonite  history  and  have  tried  to  place 
every  event  of  importance  in  its  proper  perspective. 
So  far  as  possible  I  have  tried  to  be  impartial  toward 
the  various  branches  of  the  church  and  have  given 
each  the  amount  of  space  which  according  to  my  judg- 
ment its  importance  deserved. 

It  is  hoped  that  this  volume  may  be  of  interest  and 
profit  to  the  thousands  who  are  no  longer  within  the 
Mennonite  church,  but  who  trace  their  lineage  to  a 
Mennonite  ancestry,  as  well  as  to  those  who  are  still 
to  be  found  within  the  various  branches  of  the  denomi- 
nation. 

I  am  indebted  to  many  friends  for  criticisms,  sug- 
gestions and  the  use  of  manuscript  sources.  These  are 
mentioned  throughout  the  book  in  their  proper  places. 
In  addition  to  these  I  wish  to  thank  especially  John  F. 
Funk  of  Elkhart,  Indiana,  for  the  use  of  his  private 


INTRODUCTION  IS 

library;  H.  P.  Krehbiel  and  Christian  Krehbiel  of 
Newton,  Kansas,  for  kindly  reading  the  manuscript 
for  chapters  XII  and  XIII;  N.  B.  Grubb  of  Phila- 
delphia for  the  use  of  a  number  of  cuts  relating  to  the 
Germ^ntown  church;  D.  H.  Bender,  for  editing  the 
manuscript;  the  Mennonite  Publishing  House,  for  the 
use  of  a  number  of  cuts ;  and  Professor  D.  S.  Gerig,  of 
Goshen  College,  for  critical  suggestions. 

C.  Henry  Smith. 
Goshen,  Indiana,  November  14,  1908. 


CHAPTER    I 

THE  ANABAPTISTS 

Regarding  the  origin  of  the  Mennonites  there  is 
some  difference  of  opinion  among  those  interested  in 

Mennonite  history.  Some  trace  them 
Origin  of  to   the   Anabaptists;     others    credit   the 

Mennonites      Waldenses   with   being   their   ancestors; 

still  others  try  to  follow,  through  numer- 
ous medieval  sects  which  had  certain  religious  beliefs 
in  common,  a  continuous  line  of  succession  from  the 
very  days  of  the  apostles  themselves.  While  it  is 
possible  to  trace  several  religious  doctrines  and  prac- 
tices, common  to  the  later  Mennonites,  through  various 
medieval  sects  and  a  number  of  individual  religious 
reformers,  yet  it  is  merely  a  waste  of  time  to  try  to 
carry  the  continuity  of  the  Mennonite  church,  either 
as  an  organization  or  as  to  its  faith  in  its  totality,  be- 
yond the  Anabaptists. 

The  Anabaptists  were  a  so-called  radical  religious 
sect  which   developed  in   middle   Europe   during  the 

early  sixteenth  century,  out  of  the  Luth- 
Beginnings  of  eran  and  Zwinglian  revolutions.  In  the 
Anabaptists        early   stages   of   the    Reformation   both 

Luther  and  Zwingli  were  in  favor  of  a 
departure  from  the  old  system  far  more  radical  and 


18  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

more  literally  in  accord  with  the  teaching  of  the  New 
Testament  than  that  which  they  adopted  a  few  years 
later.  When  it  became  apparent  that  both  favored  the 
retention  of  some  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  the 
old  system,  those  who  favored  a  more  radical  and 
thorough  change  began  to  withdraw  from  the  move- 
ment. Among  the  demands  made  by  the  radicals  was 
the  withdrawal  of  the  magistrates  from  all  interference 
in  matters  of  religion — in  other  words,  a  separation  of 
church  and  state.  To  the  common  man  especially, 
it  seemed  that  all  his  ills,  religious  and  social,  were  due 
to  an  established  state  church.  And  so,  many  were  as 
much  opposed  to  a  Lutheran  or  Zwinglian  established 
church  as  they  had  been  to  the  Catholic  system.  True 
churches  according  to  their  views  must  be  voluntary 
and  independent  organizations  composed  of  members 
each  of  whom  must  be  individually  responsible  to  God 
for  his  religious  beliefs. 

This  opposition  first  appeared  as  a  radical  tail  to  the 
Zwinglian  movement  in  Zurich.  Dissatisfaction  with 
Zwingli's  reforms  had  begun  as  early  as  1521  among 
some  of  his  followers,  but  the  first  rupture  took  place 
in  a  disputation  held  in  the  fall  of  1523  between  the 
Catholics  and  Zwingli's  party.  In  the  controversy  as 
to  what  should  constitute  the  final  authority  on  all 
religious  beliefs,  Zwingli  demanded  obedience  to  God 
and  the  Bible,  He  would  reject  what  was  unscriptural. 
Dr.  Faber  of  the  Catholic  party  insisted  that  the 
Universities  should  be  called  upon  to  judge.  Here- 
upon Simon  Stumpf,  pastor  at  Hongg,  who  was  in 
Zurich  at  the  time  and  who  was  one  of  the  radicals, 
declared  that  the  Spirit  of  God  must  decide  all  matters 


THE   ANABAPTISTS  19 

of  difference,  and  that  furthermore  each  one  must  in- 
terpret the  Bible  for  himself.  Here  we  find  the  germ 
of  the  teaching  of  the  people  whom  we  later  call 
Anabaptists — namely,  that  no  outside  authority,  either 
lay  or  ecclesiastical  has  the  right  to  force  any  religious 
system  upon  the  people. 

Another  fundamental  question,  which  was  lightly 
touched  upon  here  but  which  later  became  the  chief 
cause  of  contention  between  the  Zwinglians  and  the 
radicals,  was  infant  baptism.  Even  at  this  time  the 
radical  element  had  been  forced  by  the  logic  of  their 
position  to  question  both  the  necessity  and  scriptural 
basis  of  infant  baptism.  If  the  church  was  to  be  a 
voluntary,  independent  organization,  then  infant  bap- 
tism, the  sign  of  initiation  into  a  universal  church,  had 
to  be  discarded. 

It  is  impossible  to  designate  any  single  individual 
as  the  author  of  these  radical  doctrines.  Zurich  had  for 
some  time  been  the  rallying  point  for  all  those  who 
were  dissatisfied  with  the  Zwinglian  reform.  The 
movement  soon  crystallized  itself,  however,  and  as- 
sociated itself  with  the  names  of  several  men  who,  if 
not  the  founders  of  the  sect  we  know  as  Anabaptists, 
at  any  rate  became  its  leaders.  These  men  were 
Conrad  Grebel,  Felix  Manz,  William  Reublin,  George 
Blaurock,  and  several  others. 

Conrad  Grebel  in  the  early  period  of  the  Reforma- 
tion was  Zwingli's  admired  friend.     As  late  as  1522' 
Zwingli  spoke  of  him  as  "a  most  learned 
■Conrad  Grebel    and  candid  youth."     His  father  was  a 
member  of  the  Zurich  Council.    Conrad 
was  not  a  church  man,  but  was  educated  at  the  Uni- 


20  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

versities  of  Vienna  and  Paris.  By  1523  he  differed 
from  Zwingli  on  infant  baptism,  and  also  opposed  the 
union  of  church  and  state.  The  church  ought  to  be 
composed  only  of  true  believers,  he  said,  those  who 
were  truly  converted.  He  agreed  with  Zwingli  on  the 
discarding  of  pictures  and  the  mass,  but  differed  again 
on  the  question  as  to  what  was  to  take  the  place  of  the 
mass  in  religious  worship.  The  real  cause  of  difference 
however,  lay  deeper  than  any  of  these  things.  In 
his  estimation  Zwingli  did  not  go  far  enough  in  his 
effort  at  reform.  The  Bible  must  be  the  final  authority 
on  all  these  questions,  and  the  new  church  must  be 
organized  after  the  example  of  the  early  apostolic 
church.  Some  authorities  say  that  Grebel  hoped  to  be 
elected  professor  of  Greek  in  a  school  at  Zurich  but 
that  Zwingli  used  his  influence  against  both  him  and 
Manz  who  hoped  to  become  professor  of  Hebrew,  and 
that  consequently  both  these  men  arose  in  opposition 
to  him  from  personal,  rather  than  religious  grounds. 
But  from  what  we  know  of  the  later  life,  religious  zeal 
and  martyrdom  of  these  two  men,  it  does  not  seem  that 
this  accusation  is  just. 

Felix  Manz,  a  native  of  Zurich,  and  also  a  thor- 
ough scholar  and  a  firm  friend  of  Zwingli's  from  the 

first,  as  early  as  1522  began  to  question 
Felix  Manz      the  scriptural  grounds  for  infant  baptism 

and  a  state  church.  After  failing  to  con- 
vert Zwingli  to  his  views  he  began  to  preach  in  the 
-fields  and  in  his  mother's  house.  He  was  arrested  at 
Chur  and  sent  out  of  the  city,  but  soon  returned,  and 
remained  for  some  time  and  became  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  new  independent  church  in  1525. 

George  Blaurock  had  been  a  monk  at  Chur,  but 


THE   ANABAPTISTS  21 

some  time  before  1523  he  renounced  the  Roman  church 
and  came  to  Zurich  to  seek  light  from 

George  Blaurock  Zwingli.  Failing  to  find  satisfaction 
here  he  joined  the  radical  party  and 

was  the  first  to  be  baptized  into  the  new  organization 

which  came  into  existence  by  virtue  of  that  act  in  1525. 

William  Reublin  in  1521  became  a  priest  in  Basel. 
He  was  a  deep  student  of  the  Bible  and  a  preacher  of 

evangelical  truths.  Later  he  became 
William  Reublin    preacher    at    Wittikon    near    Zurich 

where  he  met  Grebel,  Manz  and  Blau- 
rock. He  was  one  of  the  first  of  the  priests  to  marry. 
He  soon  joined  the  Swiss  cause  and  became  a  zealous 
worker  for  the  movement. 

These  are  the  principal  characters  concerned  in 
the  origin  of  the  Anabaptists  in  Zurich.    Many  others, 

preachers  as  well  as  laymen,  including  such 
First  men  as   Ludwig  Hetzer  and   Hans   Brodli, 

Meetings    soon  joined  them.     After  the  disputation  of 

1523,  it  is  likely  that  the  followers  of  Grebel 
and  Manz  met  separately  for  worship.  Many  of  them 
said  that  the  church  must  be  made  up  of  true  believers, 
and  thus  they  could  not  worship  with  those  of  the 
state  church.  They  met  at  first  in  the  home  of  the 
mother  of  Felix  Manz  for  Bible  study,  and  studied 
especially  the  history  of  the  early  apostolic  church  and 
made  it  a  model  for  the  new  body.  They  found  that 
the  apostles  and  their  followers  said  nothing  about 
tithes,  taxes  and  church  benefices.  Consequently  they 
thought  the  present  practices  wrong  and  attempted  to 
get  back  to  the  independent  church  and  community  of 
goods  prevalent  in  the  days  of  the  apostles.  They 
could  not  find  that  any  of  the  members  of  the  early 


22  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

church  held  office,  so  they  considered  it  wrong  for  a 
Christian  to  be  a  magistrate.  They  saw  that  the  early 
church  did  not  fight,  so  th-ey  could  not  use  the  sword. 
In  fact  the  whole  movement  soon  became  an  attempt 
to  reproduce  the  letter  as  well  as  the  spirit  of  the 
primitive  apostolic  church,  with  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount  as  the  basis  of  their  faith. 

Just  how  general  these  doctrines  were  and  how 
thoroughly  these  people  believed  in  them  at  this  time 
(1524)    is   not   easy  to   say.     But  judging 
Early  from  their  earliest  confession  of  faith  on 

Doctrines  record  (Schleitheim,  1527)  and  from  the  ac- 
cusations made  against  them  by  the  author- 
ities in  their  trials  during  persecution,  these  practices 
were  embodied  in  well  defined  articles  of  faith  by  1527, 
and  must  have  been  believed  in  quite  generally  even 
at  this  time.  In  the  meantime  the  gap  between  the 
Zwinglians  and  the  "Brethren,"  as  they  now  called 
.themselves,  was  growing  wider.  Zwingli  tried  to  win 
.over  his  opponents  by  disputations,  both  private  and 
.public — a  common  practice  at  that  time.  As  was  to  be 
•expected,  however,  these  debates  served  only  to  confirm 
each  side  of  the  truth  of  its  own  position.  Zwingli, 
having  the  temporal  authorities  in  sympathy  with  him, 
was  inevitably  proclaimed  victorious.  The  most  de- 
cisive of  the  great  public  disputations  was  held 
January  17,  1525.  On  the  side  of  the  Brethren 
appeared  Grebel,  Manz,  Reublin,  Castelberger, 
Brodli,  jHetzer  and  Blaurock.  The  principal 
issue  was  infant  baptism,  the  Brethren  maintaining 
that  only  true  believers  should  be  baptized  and  the 
Zwinglians  declaring  in  favor  of  baptizing  infants. 
Neither  side  was  convinced,  but  the  Brethren  were 


THE   ANABAPTISTS  23 

declared  vanquished  in  the  debate.  Zwingli,  however, 
seeing  that  nothing  could  be  hoped  for  from  this 
method  of  coercion,  determined  to  use  his  influence 
with  the  civil  authorities  in  rooting  out  the  dangerous 
doctrine.  January  18,  1525,  the  Council  issued  a  decree 
ordering  the  leaders  to  leave  Zurich,  and  furthermore 
ordered  that  all  unbaptized  children  were  to  be  bap- 
tized within  eight  days.  This  last  order  was  not 
observed,  and  on  February  1,  of  the  same  year  another 
decree  ordered  the  disobedient  to  be  arrested  and  all 
infants  to  be  baptized  as  soon  as  born. 

About  this  time,  1525,  whether  before  or  after 
the  great  disputation  is  uncertain,  the  Brethren  took 

the  final  and  decisive  step  which  com- 
Introduction  of  pletely  cut  them  off  from  the  state 
Adult  Baptism      church   and   branded   them   with   the 

name  that  later  became  odious  to  them 
— the  name  Anabaptists.  This  step  was  the  introduc- 
tion of  rebaptism,  or  adult  baptism,  on  confession  of 
faith  only.  The  scene  is-  best  described  by  one  of  the 
earlier  authorities.^ 

Blaurock  was  the  first  man  to  be  baptized  by  Conrad  Gre- 
bel  and  afterwards  to  baptize  others.  From  this  time  on  they 
were  called  Anabaptists.  How  this  baptism  was  administered 
and  how  the  Lord's  supper  was  afterwards  held  is  discussed 
in  the  account  of  Rudolph  Thoman  who  was  later  put  into 
■prison.  The  account  reads  as  follows:  Rudolf  Thoman 
answeied  that  he  desired  to  eat  the  Lord's  supper  with 
Brodlin  of  Wittikon,  and  with  this  in  view  he  had  invited  him 
to  his  (Thoman's)  house.  He  had  not  invited  any  others  but 
by  and  by  many  others  came  and  soon  the  room  was  full. 
Among  other  things,  it  happened,  as  they  read  and  admon- 


1.     Fuesslin,    J.    C,    Beitrage    zur    Kirchen    Geschichte    des    SchwciUer- 
landes.     I.  p.  225. 


24  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

ished  one  another,  that  Hans  Brubbach  of  Zumikon  arose, 
wept  and  cried  out  that  he  was  a  great  sinner  and  asked  that 
they  would  pray  for  him.  Whereupon  Blaurock  asked  him 
whether  he  desired  the  grace  of  God.  He  replied,  "Yes." 
Then  Manz  arose  and  said,  "Who  shall  hinder  me  from 
baptizing  him?"  Blaurock  answered,  "No  one."  Thereupon 
he  took  a  pitcher  of  water  and  baptized  him  in  the  name  of 
the  Son,  Father  and  Holy  Ghost.  After  this  Jacob  Hottinger 
arose  and  demanded  to  be  baptized.    Manz  also  baptized  him. 

This  was  the  decisive  step  in  the  development  of 
the  new  movement.  It  was  the  act  which  finally  cut  off 
the  radicals  from  the  state  church.  Its  significance  layin 
the  fact  that  now  the  new  church  began  definite  organ- 
ization, and  in  the  complete  severing  of  church  and 
state.  Baptism  became  the  outward  sign  of  member- 
ship in  the  new  organization. 

This  is  by  no  means  the  first  case  in  history  of 
adult  baptism,  or  even  of  rebaptism,  but  the  rite  seems 
now  to  have  a  new  meaning.  Blaurock  himself  confesses 
that  so  far  as  he  knows  he  was  the  first  to  be  baptized. 
Some  good  authorities  say,  however,  that  Storch  ad- 
ministered rebaptism.  It  is  not  likely  that  Miinzer  re- 
baptized  any  one,  although  Bullinger  says  he  did,  and 
that  Manz  and  Grebel  learned  the  practice  from  him. 
Reublin  probably  baptized  at  Waldshut  in  1524,  the 
year  preceding  Blaurock's  baptism.  The  Waldenses 
and  other  older  sects  also  sometimes  performed  the 
rite.  But  whatever  may  have  been  the  case  heretofore, 
baptism  from  henceforth  had  a  new  significance.  It 
was  an  indication  that  the  baptized  person  had  become 
a  member  of  a  new  organization,  one  with  a  clear  cut 
and  well  defined  separation  from  the  older  church. 

In  the  meantime  a  movement  had  arisen  in  Saxony 


THE   ANABAPTISTS  25 

which   in   some   respects   was   similar  to   the   one   in 
Switzerland.    While  the  latter,  however, 
The  Zwickau      was    purely    religious,    the    former   was 
Prophets  largely  political  and  social. 

In  Germany,  as  in  Switzerland, 
there  were  those  who  were  disappointed  in  the  Refor- 
mation. The  radical  party  here  first  arose  in  Saxony. 
Heinrich  Bullinger,  a  contemporary  of  the  leaders  of 
that  day,  in  speaking  of  these  events,  says : 

About  the  year  1521  or  1522  there  arose  in  Saxony  a 
number  of  restless  spirits  among  whom  Nicholas  Storch  was 
one  of  the  most  influential,  who  went  about  saying  that  God 
revealed  himself  to  them  through  dreams  and  visions,  that 
there  must  be  a  new  world  in  which  only  righteousness 
shall  prevail.  Therefore  all  godless  people  must  be  destroyed 
from  the  earth  and  all  godless  princes  and  lords.  They  called 
all  people  godless  who  did  not  take  part  with  them.  At  first 
they  kept  these  matters  secret.  From  this  same  school  came 
Thomas  Munzer  who  also  had  his  followers,  Pfeiffer,  Rink 
and  many  others.  This  Miinzer  boasted  that  God  had  re- 
vealed Himself  to  him.  All  his  conversation  and  writing  was 
bitter  against  the  preachers  and  also  against  the  magistrates. 

The  leaders  of  this  movement,  Storch  and  Miinzer, 
because  of  these  claims  which  they  first  made  public  in 
Zwickau,  were  called  the  Zwickau  prophets. 

Storch  was  a  weaver,  and  although  a  layman,  was 
well  read  in  the  Bible.  Munzer  in  speaking  of  him  said 
that  he  knew  the  Scriptures  better  than  any  priest.  Of 
his  doctrinal  system  we  have  no  exact  knowledge.  But 
it  is  thought  that  he  imbibed  his  ideas  from  the 
Bohemian  Picards,  since  he  advocated  many  of  the  be- 
liefs of  that  religious  sect.  He  rejected  infant  baptism, 
although  there  is  no  evidence  that  he  practiced  re- 
baptism.     He  is  also  charged  with  teaching  the  re- 


26  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

jection  of  oaths,  of  the  magistracy,  and  of  warfare,  and 
the  community  of  goods  among  Christians.  He  be- 
heved  also  strongly  in  visions  and  the  inner  light.  An 
angel  appeared  before  him  one  night,  he  said,  and  in- 
formed him  that  he  would  be  placed  on  the  throne  of 
the  archangel  Gabriel,  and  that  a  new  kingdom  of  the 
•elect  would  be  established  on  the  earth,  while  all  un- 
believers would  be  destroyed.  He  exerted  considerable 
influence  over  his  fellow  weavers  and  others  of  the 
masses  in  Saxony.  By  1521  a  separate  religious  organ- 
ization had  been  established  by  him.  After  the  fashion 
of  the  primitive  church,  twelve  apostles  and  seventy 
evangelists  were  sent  out  to  spread  broadcast  his  teach- 
ing. Among  those  who  were  won  over  to  his  views  and 
who  took  a  prominent  part  in  the  movement  was 
Marcus  Stubner,  a  Wittenberg  student. 

Thomas  Miinzer  was  born  about  1490  and  was  well 
educated.  He  was  a  restless  spirit  and  had  taken  up 
the  work  of  reform  even  before  Luther  had,  and  in  1513 
lie  had  formed  a  conspiracy  against  the  bishop  of 
Magdeburg.  After  leading  a  wandering  life  for  several 
years  he  finally  became  pastor  of  the  Lutheran  church 
at  Zwickau  with  the  full  approval  of  Luther.  Here  he 
became  closely  associated  with  Storch  and  began  a 
iierce  attack  upon  the  avarice  and  corruption  of  the 
monks  and  priests,  and  denounced  many  of  the  prac- 
tices of  the  new  as  well  as  of  the  old  church.  As  a  result 
■of  these  attacks  he  was  forced  to  leave  Zwickau  in  1521. 

From  here  he  traveled  through  Bohemia  and  the 
small  towns  of  Saxony,  preaching  radical  ideas.  He 
finally  came  to  Alstadt  where  he  soon  gathered  a  large 
-following  and  became  pastor  of  a  congregation  in  1523. 
Here  he  began  his  denunciation  of  the  Lutheran  and 


THE   ANABAPTISTS  .    27 

the  Catholic  church,  and  the  temporal  government,  and 
soon  formed  an  organization  whose  members  were 
bound  by  oath  to  stand  by  each  other,  the  purpose  of 
which  was  to  overthrow  the  old  government  and  set  up 
in  its  place  a  new  one.  A  crusade  against  the  pictures, 
statuary,  altars  and  church  buildings  near  Alstadt  was 
inaugurated  by  him,  all  of  which  he  said  savored  of 
idolatry  and  were  not  necessary  in  the  worship  of  God. 
He  laid  more  stress  upon  direct  revelation  than  upon 
the  teaching  of  the  Bible.  "One  might  read  ten  thou- 
sand Bibles,"  he  said,  "and  yet  it  would  not  help  him."" 
He  considered  himself  a  prophet  sent  from  God  to  set 
right  the  times.  Like  many  of  the  enthusiasts  of  that 
day,  he  pretended  to  make  the  primitive  church,  to- 
gether with  certain  teachings  of  the  Old  Testament  and 
Revelation,  the  basis  of  his  new  system. 

Infant  baptism  he  rejected  as  useless,  although  In 
theory  rather  than  in  practice.  He  never  baptized 
adults  and  it  is  not  likely  that  he  himself  was  ever 
rebaptized.  In  spite  of  his  apparent  rejection  of  the 
doctrine,  however,  he  continued  to  baptize  infants  as 
late  as  1522  and  when  he  translated  the  Latin  liturgy 
into  German  he  retained  the  formula  for  infant  baptism. 

Closely  associated  with  Miinzer's  religious  views 
were  many  radical  political  ideas.  He  attacked  the 
foundations  of  the  state  as  well  as  those 
Miinzer's  of  the  established  church,  and  when  the 

Political  Ideas  temporal  authorities  forbade  him  tO' 
preach  he  asked  his  followers  to  pay  no 
attention  to  their  demands.  God,  he  said,  gave  the 
temporal  princes  in  his  anger  to  the  world,  and  He  will 
put  them  out  of  the  way. 

Those   princes   who   would  not   repent   and   would   not 


28  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

accept  the  Gospel  must  even  as  the  Catholic  ecclesiasts  be 
destroyed  with  fire  and  sword.  They  stand  not  only  against 
the  true  faith  but  also  against  the  natural  rights  of  man. 
Consequently  they  must  be  strangled  like  dogs. 

Rulers  must  govern  for  the  good  of  the  people  and 
are  accountable  to  them.  He  also  seemed  to  favor 
community  of  goods,  equality  in  social  life  and  a  level- 
ing of  all  class  distinctions. 

As  a  result  of  these  fanatical  teachings,  George  of 
Saxony  finally  ordered  Miinzer  to  leave  Alstadt  and 
never  return  to  his  kingdom  under  penalty  of  severe 
punishment.  Aliinzer  seems  to  have  gone  to  Miihl- 
hausen  and  other  places  in  South  Germany.  Early 
in  1524  he  made  an  eight  weeks  tour  through  Switzer- 
land and  Lower  Germany ;  at  Waldshut  he  met  Hub- 
meier  and  other  leaders  of  the  Swiss  Anabaptist  move- 
ment. 

He  entered  into  warm  sympathy  with  the  peasants 
of  Southern  Germany  in  their  struggle  to  free  them- 
selves from  the  economic  and  social  burdens  to  which 
the  church  and  the  land  tenure  system  of  that  day 
subjected  them.  When  the  peasants'  revolt  broke  out 
in  1525,  Miinzer  became  one  of  the  leaders  of  the 
peasants  and  was  among  the  number  who  were  cap- 
tured in  the  battle  of  Frankenhausen ;  he  was  shortly 
afterward  executed. 

Are  Miinzer  and  his  fellow  laborers  at  Zwickau  to 
be  regarded  as  Anabaptists?  On  this  question  author- 
ities dififer.  The  difference,  how- 
Were  the  Zwickau  ever,  seems  to  be  largely  one  of 
Prophets  Anabaptists?  interpretation  of  the  term  Ana- 
baptist, li  the  term  is  to  include 
all  those  radical  sects  which  followed  in  the  wake  of  the 
Reformation,  and  which  rejected  many  of  the  doctrines 


THE    ANABAPTISTS  29 

and  practices  of  the  Lutheran  and  Zwinglian  move- 
ments, including  infant  baptism,  then  the  Zwickau 
prophets  may  be  regarded  as  Anabaptists.  But  if  the 
term  is  to  be  confined  to  the  Swiss  type  who  not  only 
rejected  infant  baptism  but  also  instituted  adult  bap- 
tism, and  who  refused  to  take  an  oath  or  to  hold  office 
and  regarded  all  warfare  as  contrary  to  the  teaching 
of  Jesus,  then  Miinzer  and  his  school  can  not  be  classed 
as  Anabaptists,  at  least  not  of  the  peaceful,  non- 
resistant  type. 

Although  Miinzer  had  traveled  through  Switzer- 
land early  in  1524  and  had  received  a  friendly  welcome 
from  the  leaders  of  the  Swiss  Brethren,  it  is  not  likely 
that  he  exerted  much  influence  over  them,  especially 
after  they  learned  of  his  attitude  toward  the  civil 
authorities 

The   attitude   of  the   Swiss   toward   Munzer  can 

be  learned  from  a  letter  written 

Attitude  of  the  to  him  by  them,  under  date  of 

Swiss  toward  Miinzer     September  5,   1524.     It  reads  in 

part  as  follows : 

At  this  time  we  read  your  writings  against  the  false  faith 
and  baptism.  We  were  comforted  and  strengthened  and 
wonderfully  rejoiced  to  find  one  who  had  the  same  view  of 
Christianity  as  we,  and  who  dared  to  show  the  evangelical 
preachers  their  shortcomings,  how  they  in  all  the  principal 
articles  conduct  themselves  falsely  and  set  up  their  own  good 
judgment  instead  of  following  the  judgment  of  God.  There- 
fore we  beg  of  you  as  a  brother  to  preach  the  true  word  of 
God  earnestly  and  fearlessly;  to  set  up  and  defend  only  godly 
practices,  and  value  and  defend  the  pure  Gospel. 

They  differ  with  Miinzer  on  certain  minor  points 
of  practice,  such  as  the  substitution  of  singing  for  the 
mass,  etc.    In  reference  to  baptism  the  letter  goes  on: 


30  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

Wc  are  very  much  pleased  with  your  writing  and  desire 
to  be  taught  more  on  the  subject. 

In  conclusion  they  say: 

Regard  us  as  your  brethren  and  understand  this  writing 
to  have  been  done  through  great  joy  and  hope  of  you  through 
God,  and  teach  and  comfort  as  you  well  can.  Pray  to  God  for 
us  that  He  may  help  us  in  our  faith.  We  desire  you  to  write 
again. 

This  is  signed  by  Grebel,  Manz,  Castelberg  and  others. 
Grebel  adds  a  postscript  to  the  letter  in  which  he  says 
that  some  one  has  written  him  that  Miinzer  taught  that 
the  peasants  should  lay  violent  hands  on  the  temporal 
princes.  He  warns  him  against  this  and  admonishes 
him  to  renounce  the  teaching.  He  says  the  true  disciple 
of  Christ  must  suffer  persecution  but  cannot  offer 
violence  to  any  one.  He  adds  that  he  warns  him 
because  of  his  love  for  him. 

This  letter  shows  that  although  the  Swiss  were 
greatly  impressed  with  Miinzer's  writing  and  that  they 
felt  that  they  had  found  in  him  a  kindred  spirit,  yet 
they  were  suspicious  of  his  teaching  regarding  the 
Christian's  relation  to  the  temporal  authority.  Of 
Miinzer's  influence  in  Switzerland,  Ludwig  Keller, 
probably  one  of  the  best  and  at  the  same  time  a  sympa- 
thetic modern  critic  of  Anabaptist  lore  says : 

Miinzer  may  in  his  visit  to  Switzerland  have  gained  cer- 
tain individuals,  yet  it  is  true  that  he  did  not  succeed  in 
exerting  any  very  great  influence  upon  the  heretofore  leaders 
of  the  Swiss  movement.  The  further  development  of  this 
sect  was  not  changed  by  him. 

Let  us  return  to  the  Zurich  Brethren.  The  introduc- 
tion of  rebaptism  gained  for  them  the  name  "Wieder- 
taufer"  or  Anabaptists.    They  never  acknowledged  the 


THE    ANABAPTISTS  31 

term,  but  spoke  of  themselves  merely  as  the  Brethren. 
We  shall  speak  of  them  here  as  Anabaptists. 

The  year  1525  marks  the  beg-inning-  of  the  persecu- 
tion of  the  Anabaptists.    Zwingli  noAv  saw  that  the  new 

movement  was  becoming  a  menace  to  his 
Early  state  s3-stcm  and  consequently  did  all  he 

Persecutions     could  to  persuade  the  Zurich  authorities 

to  stamp  out  the  new  teaching.  Powers  of 
persuasion  were  first  tried,  and  to  this  end  numerous 
public  disputations  were  held  with  the  Anabaptists. 
But  when  these  failed,  severer  measures  were  resorted 
to.  After  the  disputation  of  1525,  the  leaders  were 
ordered  to  leave  the  canton,  their  teaching  was  sup- 
pressed and  a}I  children  were  ordered  to  be  baptized 
within  eight  days.  At  first  the  penalty  for  disobedience 
was  a  money  fine.  But  when  it  was  found  that  the 
Anabaptists  Avere  increasing  in  numbers  and  insisted 
on  coming  back,  banishment  and  finally  the  death 
penalty  was  decreed  for  those  who  dared  return.  Blau- 
rock  was  sent  out  of  the  city.  Grebel  died  a  natural 
death  in  1526.  Felix  Manz  Avas  the  first  of  the  leaders 
to  suffer  the  death  penalty.  After  converting  hundreds 
to  the  new  faith  he  was  finally  apprehended  and 
suffered  martyrdom  by  drowning  in  1527. 

As  a  result  of  these  persecutions  the  leaders  were 
scattered  over  Switzerland  and  Southern  Germany  in  a 
short  time.  Wherever  they  went  they 
Rapid  Spread  ])reachcd  the  new  doctrines  and  ad- 
of  Anabaptists  ministered  the  rite  of  baptism  upon 
hundreds  and  thousands  of  believers. 
Grebel  had  gone  to  Schaffhausen,  Brodli  to  Hallau, 
and  Reublin  to  Waldshut  where  he  had  baptized  Balt- 
hasar  Hubmcir  and  his  entire  congregation.       From 


32  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

here  Reublin  Avent  to  Strasburg  in  1526.  Soon 
churches  were  established  in  Zollikon,  Griiningen,  Ap- 
penzell,  St.  Gallen,  Schaffhaiisen,  Berne,  Basel  and  all 
along  the  upper  Rhine  country  in  Switzerland  and 
across  the  border  in  Germany,  and  soon  the  movement 
crept  down  the  Rhine.  Hetzer  went  to  Augsburg  from 
Zurich,  In  1526  Hubmeir  went  to  Augsburg,  and  later 
to  Moravia. 

Some  of  these  congregations  grew  to  large  dimen- 
sions. The  one  at  St.  Gallen  soon  numbered  eight 
hundred  members,  to  which  fifteen  hundred  more  were 
added  from  Appenzell.  The  little  town  of  St.  Gallen 
became  so  full  of  Anabaptists  that  it  was  called  the 
little  Jerusalem.  The  church  at  Augsburg  also  soon 
contained  one  thousand  members.  In  1526  a  congrega- 
tion was  established  at  Steyr  and  about  the  same  time 
others  were  organized  at  Worms  and  Nuremberg.  By 
1527  there  were  thirty-eight  congregations  in  the  can- 
ton of  Zurich  alone. 

Reublin,  from  Strasburg  as  a  center,  visited  Rot- 
tenburg,  Reutlingen,  Esslingen  and  Ulm.  All  along  the 
course  of  the  Rhine  in  the  large  cities,  Anabaptist 
communities  were  soon  found.  By  1528  the  movement 
had  entered  the  lower  Rhine  country  and  from  there 
spread  over  the  Netherlands.  The  cause  for  this  rapid 
spread  of  the  new  faith  is  discussed  later  in  this 
chapter. 

Sebastian  Frank,  an  old  chronicler  of  that  day  in 
speaking  of  the  movement  says : 

In  the  year  1526  a  new  party  arose  whose  leaders  and 
bishops  were  Hubmeir,  Rink,  Hut,  Denk  and  Hetzer.  They 
spread  so  rapidly  that  their  teaching  soon  covered  the  whole 
land  and  they  soon  secured  a  large  following  and  also  added 


THE   ANABAPTISTS  33 

to  their  number  many  good  hearts  who  were  zealous  toward 
God. 

Of  course  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  a  move- 
ment which  spread  so  rapidly  and  which  was  subject 
to  so  many  modifying  local  influences 
Tendencies  of  retained  throughout  its  course  all  the 
the  Movement  tendencies  of  its  early  beginnings. 
Anabaptism  was  above  all  intensely 
individualistic,  and  in  the  course  of  its  brief  history 
it  manifested  a  variety  of  tendencies  according  to 
the  spirit  and  opinions  of  its  chief  leaders.  It  is  im- 
possible here  to  name  all  these  leaders,  but  next  to  the 
founders  of  the  sect,  among  the  most  influential  and 
those  who  were  most  responsible  for  these  various 
tendencies  of  the  movement  were  Hans  Denk,  Balt- 
hasar  Hubmeir,  Hans  Hut  and  Melchior  Hoffman. 
Each  of  these  stamped  his  own  personality  upon  the 
trend  of  the  development  of  Anabaptism,  and  each 
modified  the  interpretation  of  its  chief  doctrines  to  suit 
his  own  theories. 

Hans  Denk  was  a  student  at  the  University  of 
Ingolstadt  and  early  allied  himself  with  the  reform 
movement.  In  1523  he  was  made  profes- 
Hans  Denk  sor  in  the  St.  Albans  school  at  Nurem- 
berg. Already  at  this  place  his  orthodoxy 
was  questioned  by  the  Lutheran  authorities  in  the  city, 
and  in  1525  he  was  required  to  write  out  his  confession 
of  faith.  His  chief  cause  for  complaint  seems  to  have 
been  that  the  reform  was  not  thorough  enough.  It  did 
not  attempt  to  reform  the  life  of  the  individual. 
Nuremberg  was  a  center  of  Waldensian  teaching  at 
this  time  and  it  may  be  that  Denk  imbibed  some  of 
their  doctrines. 

As  a  result  of  these  differences  he  was  banished 


34  :^IEXX0X1THS    OF    AMERICA 

from  Xurembcrq-  never  to  return  under  penalty  of 
capital  punishment,  lie  at  once  went  to  the  Swiss 
Brethren  at  St.  Gallen,  and  soon  afterward  to  Augs- 
burg where  he  found  a  large  congregation  of  Brethren. 
It  is  supposed  that  he  was  secretly  l)ai)tized  in  1526  by 
Hubmeir  who  was  preaching  there  at  this  time.  On 
Easter,  1526,  Dcnk  in  turn  l^aptized  Hut  and  many 
others.  Near  the  close  of  1526  Denk  fled  to  Strasburg 
where  a  large  church  had  been  organized.  While  there 
he  drew  many  noted  merchants  to  the  church — includ- 
ing two  members  of  the  lower  council — to  the  number 
of  eleven  hundred.  He  soon  had  to  leave  the  city,  how- 
ever, and  wandered  about  for  another  year,  visiting 
Worms,  Zurich  and  other  centers  of  Anabaptism.  He 
died  at   Basel   October.   1527. 

Denk  exerted  great  influence  upon  the  history  of 
the  Anabaptists  of  his  time  both  by  his  preaching  and 
his  writings.  He  spent  much  time  in  defending  the 
.Anabaptists  against  the  charges  of  the  Catholic  and 
Reform  parties.  He  also  helped  to  translate  part  of  the 
Old  Testament  from  the  Hebrew^  to  the  German.  In 
his  faith  he  agreed,  in  the  main,  with  the  earlier  Ana- 
baptists, although  he  dithered  from  them  in  some  re- 
spects. This  difference  was  great  enough  to  attach 
to  his  followers  the  name  "Dcnkianer."  He  w^as  not  an 
enthusiast  on  rcbaptism  and  said  in  later  life  he  was 
sorry  that  he  ever  rebaptized  any  one.  He  taught  that 
Christ  alone  Avas  not  sufficient  for  salvation.  Free  will 
must  also  be  exercised.  He  further  taught  that  n<^ 
man  will  remain  forever  damned.  Even  the  evil  spirits 
will  be  regenerated.  In  common  with  Hetzer  he  even 
doubted  the  Trinity  and  divinity  of  Christ. - 


2.     Arnold,    Gottfried,    II.    p.    864. 


THE   ANABAPTISTS  35 

Balthasar    Hubmeir,    preacher    and    professor    at 
Ino-olstadt,     was     converted     from     Catholicism     to 

Zwin-lianism  in  1522.  He  first  located  at 
Balthasar  Waldshut  from  whence  he  often  visited 
Hubmeir       Basel   and    spoke   with    Denk,    Grebel    and 

Manz.    In  1523  he  was  present  and  assisted 
Zwingli  in  the  great  debate  with  the  Catholics.    From 
here    he    went    to    Schaffhausen,    but    becoming    dis- 
satisfied with  the  Zwinglian  movement  on  the  ground 
that  it  did  not  insist  strongly  enough  on  a  thorough 
reform  of  the  individual  and  did  not  take  the  apostolic 
church  as  a  model  for  its  organization,  he  left  the  state 
church  and  cast  his  lot  with  the  Anabaptists,  being 
baptized  by  Reublin  at  Waldshut  in  1525.    Soon  after 
this  Hubmeir  in  turn  baptized  out  of  a  milk  pail  over 
three  hundred  believers.     From  this  time  to  his  death 
two  years  later  he  lived  the  life  of  a  fugitive.    He  first 
went    to    Constance    where    he    spent    some    time    in 
establishing  Anabaptist  communities  and  from  there 
in   1526  fled  to  Aloravia  which  at  this  time  was  an 
asylum     for    the    persecuted     Anabaptists     of    other 
countries.    Here  he  labored  at  Nicolsburg  for  about  a 
year  when  upon  the  request  of  the  Austrian  govern- 
ment he  and  his  wife  were  cast  into  prison.     After 
nearly  a  year  of  imprisonment  he  was  finally  burned  at 
the  stake  on  March  10,  1528.    Three  days  later  his  de- 
voted wife  was  cast  into  the  Danube.     Hubmeir  had 
once    been    led    by    the    excruciating    pain    which    he 
suffered  on  the  rack  to  recant,  but  later  repented  his 
weakness  and  when  he  was  tied  to  the  stake  he  first 
thrust  his  right  hand  into  the  flames  because  as  he 
said  it  had  been  the  hand  with  which  he  had  written 
the  recantation. 


36  MEXXONITES    OF    AMERICA 

Hubmeir  built  up  large  congregations  wherever 
he  went.  He  was  a  learned  man,  being  educated  at  the 
University  of  Freiburg,  and  later  he  became  a  pro- 
fessor at  Ingolstadt.  He  was  also  a  voluminous 
writer  and  many  of  his  writings  are  still  extant. 

In  his  religious  views  Hubmeir  was  one  of  the 
most  moderate  of  the  Anabaptists.  Unlike  the  radical 
elements  of  the  party,  he  opposed  communism.  In 
most  of  the  religious  doctrines  he  agreed  with  the 
Swiss  Brethren  except  that  he  did  not  follow  them  in 
their  doctrine  of  non-resistance  as  regards  warfare  and 
the  magistracy.  He  taught  that  a  Christian  might  be 
a  magistrate  and  even  bear  arms,  although  not  for  the 
purpose  of  enforcing  any  particular  set  of  religious 
opinions.  It  is  this  half-way  position  of  Hubmeir's 
among  the  Anabaptists  of  his  day  that  leads  the 
modern  Baptists  to  regard  him  as  the  greatest  leader 
of  the  movement,  and  as  the  one  most  nearly  in  accord 
with  their  own  faith. 

In  the  meantime  the  persecution  of  the  Anabap- 
tists went  on  apace.  In  almost  every  country,  and  by 
all  of  the  established  churches  those  who 
Continued  showed  any  signs  of  belief  in  the  new 
Persecutions  doctrines  were  banished,  imprisoned  and 
burned  at  the  stake  or  thrown  into  the 
rivers.  Kirschmeyer  estimates  that  from  1525  to  1530 
over  one  thousand  were  slain  in  Tyrol  alone.  Sebas- 
tian Frank  counts  up  six  hundred  as  having  perished 
at  iEnsisheim,  the  seat  of  the  Austrian  government  in 
its  southwestern  dominions.  In  another  small  city 
seventy-six  w^ere  killed  in  six  weeks]  Duke  William 
of  Bavaria  issued  the  blood-thirsty  decree  that  all  those 
who  recanted  should  be  beheaded,  while  those  who  did 


THE    ANABAPTISTS  37 

not  should  be  burned.  Cornelius,  a  reliable  although 
Catholic  historian  says : 

The  blood  of  these  poor  people  flowed  like  water.  But 
hundreds  of  them,  of  all  ages  and  both  sexes,  suflfered  the 
pangs  of  torture  without  a  murmur,  refusing  to  redeem  their 
lives  by  recanting,  and  went  to  the  place  of  execution  with 
joy  and  singing  psalms. 

Partly  as  a  result  of  these  severe  persecutions,  but 
more  as  a  result  of  the  fanatical  teaching  of  certain 
leaders  of  the  movement  who  perhaps  were  influenced 
somewhat  by  the  teaching  of  Miinzer  and  other  en- 
thusiasts, there  appeared  by  about  1527  in  Southern 
■Germany  the  first  signs  of  those  chiliastic  tendencies 
which  a  few  years  later  resulted  in  the  disastrous 
Miinster  episode. 

This  chiliastic  spirit  which  was  poten- 
Chiliastic        tially  present  in  the  teaching  of  some  of 
Tendencies     the  earlier  leaders  was  openly  manifested 
in  the  life  and  work  of  Hans  Hut. 
Hut  was  a  native  of  Franconia.  and  by  trade  a 
book-binder.      In   1524  he  made  the  acquaintance  of 
Thomas  Miinzer  whom  he  assisted  in  print- 
Hans  Hut    ing  and  circulating  his  pamphlets.     Later 
he  fell  in  with  some  Anabaptists  and  was 
converted  to  that  faith.    In  1526  he  was  rebaptized  by 
Hans     Denk.  He     now    went    about,     preaching 

and  baptizing.  Although  now  an  Anabaptist  in  his 
affiliations  and  in  many  of  the  essential  tenets  of  the 
faith,  yet  he  did  not  recognize  the  non-resistant  doc- 
trine which  at  the  time  was  still  held  by  the  majority 
of  the  Anabaptists,  and  had  evidently  not  yet  gotten 
away  entirely  from  the  teachings  of  Miinzer.  He  was 
one  of  the  earliest  among  the  sect  to  teach  millen- 
arianism.     Christ  would  shortly  come,  he  said,  and 


38  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

would  give  His  kingdom  over  into  the  hands  of  the 
elect,  w^hich  of  course  meant  those  who  had  been  re- 
baptized.  He  himself  was  the  special  agent  appointed 
by  God  to  make  known  these  things  to  the  elect,  who 
in  the  last  days  were  to  have  two-edged  swords  in 
their  hands.  Upon  the  establishing  of  Christ's  king- 
dom all  the  temporal  rulers  as  well  as  the  priests  and 
pastors  would  be  punished  for  their  intolerance  and 
false  doctrines.  This  work  of  vengeance  was  to  be 
performed  by  an  invasion  of  Turks,  after  which  the 
earth  was  to  be  given  over  to  the  Saints.  In  1527  Hut 
actually  gathered  together  a  large  number  of  his  fol- 
lowers in  Franconia  for  the  purpose  of  leading  them 
to  Switzerland,  jMiihlhausen  or, Hungary  to  await 
the  coming  of  the  Turks.  The  advent  of  Christ  was  set 
for  Whitsuntide  1528. 

The  Christian  himself  may  use  the  sword  in 
taking  possession  of  the  new  kingdom  but  he  must 
wait  until  God  ordered  him  to  unsheath  it.  Here  we 
have,  if  not  the  actual  teaching  of  the  later  Miinsterites, 
at  least  the  germ  out  of  which  that  teaching  grew. 

These  doctrines  Hut  preached  first  at  Augsburg 
and  the  surrounding  region  and  later  at  Nicolsburg 
where  he  tried  to  gain  the  large  community  in  which 
Hubmeir  was  teaching,  to  his  party.  Hut  was  finally 
arrested  and  imprisoned  in  Nicolsburg.  He  lost  his 
life  in  an  attempt  to  escape  from  prison  at  Augsburg. 

In   Melchior  Hoffman  we  have  the  doctrines  of 

Hans  Hut  carried  one  step  farther.     Hoff- 

Melchior       man  came  originally  from  Suabia,  and  un- 

HofFman       like  some  of  the  Anabaptist  leaders  he  was 

a  laboring  man,  being  a  leather-dresser  by 

trade.     As  early  as  1523  we  find  him  in  Zurich  and 


THE   ANABAPTISTS  39 

soon  after  as  a  Lutheran  agitator  in  Northern  Ger- 
many. In  1524  we  find  him  in  company  with  Melchior 
Rink,  a  disciple  of  IMiinzer,  on  a  preaching  tour 
through  Sweden.  At  Stockholm  he  became  involved 
in  a  crusade  against  the  images  in  the  churches,  and 
was  forced  to  leave.  In  1525  he  finally  appeared  in 
Wittenberg  where  he  first  began  his  teaching  regard- 
ing the  kingdom  of  the  elect.  Hofifman,  although  not 
an  educated  man,  knew  his  Bible  from  cover  to  cover, 
being  especially  saturated  with  the  teachings  of  the 
Prophets  and  Revelation,  which  seemed  to  appeal  to 
his  imagination.  In  common  with  Hans  Hut  he  be- 
lieved in  a  speedy  coming  of  Christ's  kingdom  on  earth 
and  taught  that  he  himself  was  a  prophet  and  would 
be  given  the  task  of  appointing  the  king  when  the  time 
should  come. 

In  1527  he  appears  again  as  an  agitator  of  these 
views  in  Holstein.  In  1529  he  came  to  Strasburg 
which  at  that  time  was  an  asylum  for  Anabaptists. 
Soon  he  again  left  for  East  Friesland. 

Hoffman  was  not  the  first  Anabaptist  in  Northern 
Germany  and  the  Netherlands.  AValdensians  and 
other  medieval  evangelical  sects  had  been  found  here 
for  some  time  and  at  this  time  there  were  manv  com- 
munities of  non-resistant  Anabaptists.  It  is  not 
known  just  when  Hoffman  cast  his  lot  with  them.  In 
1530  he  advised  a  Zwinglian  church  at  Strasburg  to  be 
put  in  charge  of  the  Anabaptists  and  not  long  after 
this  he  was  baptized  at  Embden,  one  of  their  strong- 
holds. From  this  time  on  he  became  an  enthusiastic 
preacher  of  Anabaptist  doctrines  as  he  understood  them 
and  spent  several  years  in  Northern  Germany  and  the 
Netherlands.    He  was  finally  imprisoned  at  Strasburg 


4U  MEXXOXITES    OF    AMERICA 

in  1533,  and  here  he  remained  until  his  death  some  time 
later. 

In  doctrine  Hoffman  agreed  in  the  main  \vith  the 
large  body  of  Anabaptists  represented  earher  by 
Grebel,  Blaurock,  and  partly  by  Denk  on  baptism,  free 
will,  justification,  church  discipline  and  the  ban;  but 
•differed  in  his  attitude  toward  civil  government,  and 
also,  as  we  have  seen,  on  the  kingdom  of  the  elect. 
When  he  left  Strasburg  in  1532  for  Friesland  he  pre- 
dicted that  Strasburg  was  to  be  the  New  Jerusalem 
and  that  the  end  would  come  in  1533.  He  was  the 
Elias  who  was  to  crown  the  new  King  at  that  time. 
When  the  day  upon  which  his  prophecy  was  to  be 
fulfilled  came  and  passed  he  extended  the  time  to 
successive  dates  as  occasion  demanded.  Finally  the 
belief  grew  among  his  followers  that  Miinster,  and 
not  Strasburg  was  to  be  the  New  Jerusalem.  From 
this  time  on  the  eyes  of  such  as  believed  in  the  speedy 
establishment  of  a  kingdom  of  the  elect  were  turned 
toward  Miinster.  Just  what  part  the  elect  were  to 
play  in  bringing  about  the  new  kingdom  Hoft'man  did 
not  explain.  He  did  not  make  an  appeal  for  an  armed 
uprising  as  did  his  successors.  Yet  he  taught  that  the 
non-believers  must  all  be  destroyed  by  the  sword. 
This  was  dangerous  teaching,  and  as  we  shall  see 
prepared  the  way  for  the  fierce  fanaticism  of  Jan 
Matthys. 

Hoft'man  before  his  imprisonment  had  appointed 
•one  Jan  A'latthys  as  leader  of  his  people  in  East  Fries- 
land.  Matthys  now  became  the  champion  of  millen- 
arianism.  He  proclaimed  himself  the  Enoch  who  was 
to  inaugurate  the  new  dispensation.  Unlike  Hoffman, 
who  merely  prophesied  that  the  new  era  would  come, 


THE    ANABAPTISTS  41 

]\Iatthys  now  immediately  set  about  to  take  a  hand  in 
bringing  about  the  new  kingdom  by  force.  The  move- 
ment now  rapidly  lost  its  religious  character  and  as- 
sumed more  and  more  a  political  nature.'  The  story 
of  Jan  IMatthys  and  his  successor,  John  of  Leyden,  and 
the  founding  of  the  Miinster  kingdom,  together  with 
its  fanatical  rule  furnish  one  of  the  most  familiar  as 
well  as  most  disgraceful  episodes  in  Anabaptist  history 
and  need  not  be  repeated  here. 

In  this  brief  sketch  of  the  development  of  Ana- 
baptism  the  term  has  been  used  in  its  widest  applica- 
tion.    All  classes  and  tendencies  of  the 
Peaceful  movement  have  been  included.     It  is  not 

Anabaptists  to  be  supposed  for  a  moment,  however, 
that  the  teachings  just  mentioned  were 
everywhere  accepted.  These  chiliastic  tendencies  were 
confined  to  Northern  Germany  and  the  Netherlands. 
The  majority  of  the  Anabaptists  of  Switzerland, 
Moravia  and  Southern  Germany  were  not  tainted 
with  millenarianism,  and  had  not  departed  from  their 
earlier  non-resistant  doctrines.  Neither  had  those  of 
the  peaceful  non-resistant  faith  altogether  died  out  in 
Northern  Germany.  They  bore  their  persecutions 
patiently  and  not  much  was  heard  of  them.  There  were 
still  many  in  these  regions  who  were  not  influenced  by 
the  teachings  of  Alelchior  Hoffman  or  Jan  Matthys. 
Bullinger,  the  avowed  enemy  of  the  Anabaptists,  and  a 
contemporary,  in  his  book,  "Against  the  Anabaptists," 
accuses  them  of  fanaticism  but  never  mentions,  except 
in  the  case  of  the  ]\Ii\nsterites,  any  revolutionary 
tendencies.  These  all  had  to  face  the  charge  of  being 
Miinsterites  but  they  always  stoutly  denied  that  they 


42  MENXOXITHS    OF    AMERICA 

had  any  sympathy  or  even  any  historical  connection 
with  them.  Judc;"ing'  from  Anabaptist  confessions  of 
laith  which  are  still  extant,  from  accnsations  made 
a,ij;ainst  them  by  the  authorities  and  the  records  of 
their  submissive  spirit  under  persecution,  it  is  safe  to 
say  that  outside  of  the  jNIiinsterites,  the  large  majority 
were  at  least  peaceable,  loyal  and  obedient  citizens,  if 
not  indeed  altogether  non-resistant.  Sebastian  Frank, 
•one  of  the  early  authorities  characterizes  them  as  fol- 
lows : 

I  am  thoroughly  convinced  that  there  are  many  simple, 
righteous  people  among  this  sect,  and  also  their  leaders  try 
to  fear  God.    Many  of  them  desire  such  a  holy,  simple,  conse- 

•crated  Christian  life  that  they  no  longer  desire  to  live  accord- 
ing   to    the    flesh    and    no    longer    seek    the    things    of    the 

■earth.  For  this  reason  they  say  a  Christian  should  not  live 
for  the  world  and  not  care  for  the  world,  should  desire  death 

■equally  with  life,  etc. 

While  it  is  true  that  often  individuals  and  com- 
munities held  a  variet}'  of  opinions  and  doctrines,  some 
of  which   resembled   those  of  the   ]\Iun- 
^Schleitheim       sterites,  yet  the  large  assemblies  or  con- 
Confession        ferences  always  rebuked  any  manifesta- 
tions of  fanaticism  and  always  declared 
for  the  non-resistant  doctrines.    As  early  as  1526  Hans 
Denk  presided  over  a  large  conference  of  leaders  at 
Augsburg  at  which  a  warning  note  was  raised  against 
■chiliastic  and   millenarian  teaching,   showing  perhaps 
that  already  at  that  time  these  tendencies  were  crop- 
])ing  out  among  some  of  the  leaders.    One  of  the  most 
important  of  these  as-semblages,  and  the  one  at  which 
ihe  earliest  known  Anabaptist  confession  of  faith  was 
drawn    up,    was    held    in    1527    at    Schleitheim    near 
.Schafifhausen.     This  confession,  called,  "A  Brotherly 


THE    ANABAPTISTS  43^ 

Union  of  Some  Children  of  God,"  contains  in  substance 
the  following  declarations  of  doctrine.^ 

1.  Baptism. — Baptism  shall  be  administered  to  all  who- 
are  tauglit  repentance  and  a  change  of  life,  and  truly  believe 
in  the  forgiveness  of  their  sins  through  Jesus  Christ,  and 
are  wiUing  to  walk  in  newness  of  life;  all  those  shall  be 
I)aptized  when  they  desire  it  and  ask  it  by  the  decision  of 
their  own  minds;  which  excludes  all  infant  baptism  accord- 
ing to  the  Scriptures  and  the  practice  of  the  Apostles. 

2.  The  Ban  or  Excommunication. — This  shall  be  prac- 
ticed with  all  those  wlio  have  given  themselves  to  the  Lord,, 
to  follow  His  commandments,  are  baptized,  and  call  them- 
selves brethren  and  sisters,  and  yet  stumble  and  fall  into 
sin,  or  are  unexpectedly  overtaken;  these  after  admonition 
according  to  Matthew  18,  if  they  do  not  repent  shall  be 
cxcomnuinicated. 

3.  Breaking  of  Bread.— All  who  wish  to  break  "one 
bread"  in  remembrance  of  the  broken  body  of  Christ,  and 
drink  of  "one  cup"  in  remembrance  of  His  shed  blood,, 
shall  be  united  by  baptism  into  one  body  which  is  the  con- 
gregation of  God  and  of  which  Christ  is  the  Head. 

4.  Separation  from  the  World. — The  Christian  must  be- 
separated  from  all  the  evil  and  wickedness  that  Satan  has 
planted  into  the  world.  According  to  II  Cor.  6:17,18.  "We 
shall  come  out  from  among  them  and  be  separate:"  separate 
from  all  Papistic  works  and  services,  meetings  and  church- 
goings,  drinking  houses  and  other  things  which  the  world 
highlj'^  esteem's. 

5.  Ministers. — The  ministers  shall,  according  to  tlie 
teaching  of  Paul,  be  of  good  report  of  them  that  are  without. 
He  shall  teach,  exhort,  and  help  all  the  members  to  advance 
in  their  spiritual  life.  When  he  has  needs  he  shall  be  aided 
by  the  congregation  which  chose  him  to  his  work.  If  he 
should  be  driven  away,  or  imprisoned,  or  killed,  another 
minister  shall  at  once  be  put  into  his  place. 


3.  This  confession  can  be  found  in  many  books  on  Anabaptist  history^ 
This  brief  summary  is  taken  from  John  Horsch's  pamphlet,  "The 
Mcnnonitcs." 


44  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

6.  Taking  the  Sword. — The  worldl}'  governments  of 
the  land  are  to  use  the  sword,  but  in  the  perfect  congregation 
of  Christ,  excommunication  is  used,  by  which  no  one  suffers 
violence  to  his  body.  Peter  says:  "Christ  has  suffered  (not 
reigned)  and  has  given  us  an  example  that  we  should  follow 
his  footsteps."  Neither  is  it  the  Christian's  work  to  have  a 
part  in  civil  government;  because  the  rulings  of  government 
are  according  to  the  flesh,  but  the  government  of  Christ  is 
according  to  the  Spirit.  The  weapons  of  the  world  are  car- 
nal, but  the  weapons  of  the  Christian  are  spiritual  to  the  over- 
coming of  the  world  and  Satan. 

7.  Oaths. — Christ,  who  taught  the  law  in  perfection, 
forbade  His  disciples  all  oaths,  whether  true  or  false.  By 
this  we  understand  that  all  swearing  is  forbidden. 

This  declaration,  it  will  be  observed,  is  soundly 
Biblical  and  thoroughly  in  accord  with  the  doctrine  of 
non-resistance.  Later  confessions  embodied  practi- 
cally the  same  views. 

From  what  has  been  said  in  this  chapter  the  reader 
will  readily  observe  that  when  speaking  of  Anabaptists 

one  must  keep  in  mind  that  there  were  a 
Classes  of  variety  of  sects  some  of  which  had  no 
Anabaptists      connection    whatever    with    the    others. 

The  non-resistant,  peaceful  type,  with 
which  we  are  here  most  concerned  and  which  main- 
tained its  identity  all  through  this  time,  must  not  be 
confused  with  the  fanatical,  chiliastical  element  of  the 
movement. 

Bullinger  in  his  work  on  the  Anabaptists  mentions 
no  less  than  forty  sects  in  his  time  under  that  name. 
Among  the  most  prominent  were:  1.  The  Apostolic, 
who  read  their  Bibles  very  literally,  traveled  about 
without  staff  and  shoes,  carried  no  money.  Some  oT 
them  preached  from  the  housetops,  acted  like  children 
because  the  Bible  said  they  must  become  like  children 


THE   ANABAPTISTS  45" 

to  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  had  all  their 
property  in  common.  2.  Those  Excluded  from  the 
World.  They  had  nothing  in  common  with  the  rest  of 
the  world.  Their  clothing  was  simply  made  and  they 
had  rules  for  eating,  drinking,  and  sleeping.  They  had 
neither  weddings  nor  banquets.  In  fact  they  discarded 
everything  that  was  common  to  the  outside  world. 
3.  The  Holy,  Sinless  Baptists..  They  could  not  sin; 
did  not  believe  in  original  sin.  They  omitted  the 
phrase,  "Forgive  our  sins,"  from  the  Lord's  Prayer; 
they  did  not  need  the  prayers  of  the  faithful.  4,  The 
Silent  Brethren.  They  thought  that  preaching  was  of 
no  avail.  It  was  not  necessary  for  the  world  to  hear 
the  Word.  When  asked  concerning  their  faith  they 
kept  silent.  5.  The  Enthusiasts.  They  were  filled  with 
the  spirit  of  prophecy,  saw  visions  and  had  dreams, 
and  believed  in  an  early  second  coming  of  Christ.  In 
Amsterdam,  1535,  five  women  and  seven  men  filled 
with  the  spirit  ran  naked  through  the  streets,  preached, 
prayed,  fell  into  a  trance  and  warned  the  city  against 
the  wrath  to  come.  6.  The  Free  Brethren.  They  were 
shunned  by  most  of  the  others.  They  made  the 
spiritual  freedom  a  freedom  of  the  flesh.  They  paid  no 
tithes,  nor  taxes,  and  opposed  slavery.  Entered  all 
sorts  of  disgraces.  Had  property  and  women  in 
common.  They  taught  that  a  Christian  must  hate  all 
that  belonged  to  him,  even  wife  and  child.  7.  Miin- 
sterites.  All  other  branches-  despised  everything  high 
and  exalted,  but  these  aimed  at  power. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  prolong  the  list.  The  re- 
mainder show  the  same  basis  of  classification  as  the 
first  seven.  These  different  branches  are  classified 
according  to  the    emphasis    they    place    upon    some 


46  MEXXONITES    OF    AMERICA 

particular  interpretation  of  certain  portions  of  the 
Bible.  In  the  essentials  of  Anabaptist  doctrine,  such 
as  baptism,  independence  of  church  and  state,  exclu- 
sion from  the  world,  the  ban,  etc.,  they  generally 
agree.  It  is  the  minor  differences  that  constitute  the 
classes.  And  yet  they  agree  even  in  their  dififerences — 
in  this  that  they  show  an  attempt  to  follow  closely  the 
teaching  of  the  Bible  as  they  saw  it,  sometimes  the  Old 
Testament,  but  much  more  frequently  the  New  and 
generally  the  early  primitive  church.  Generally  speak- 
ing, too,  all  of  them  had  to  a  slight  extent  what  each 
one  had  to  excess.  Each  one  of  them  embodied  some 
Biblical  truth  and  could  find  passages  of  Scripture 
which  seemed  to  substantiate  the  particular  peculiarity 
for  which  they  stood. 

These  classes  must  be  taken  as  tendencies  to 
excess  in  the  entire  bod}^  rather  than  well  defined  and 
distinct  divisions,  separate  from  all  others.  These 
were  enthusiastic  and  fanatical  tendencies  that  were 
likely  to  crop  out  occasionally  but  not  characteristic  of 
the  body  as  a  whole.  It  is  difficult  and  impossible  to 
say  just  how  many  belonged  to  one  sect  and  how  many 
to  another,  but  it  is  fair  to  presume  that  the  large  body, 
as  has  already  been  suggested,  were  peaceable  and 
law-abiding  as  well  as  deeply  religious. 

It  is  not  at  all  strange  that  these  dift'erences 
occurred.      The  times  oft'ered  an  excellent  opportunity 

for  ambitious  leaders  to  impress  their 
Reasons  for  personality   upon   the   development   of 

These  Classes       the    movement.      We    have    seen    how 

various  leaders  as  Denk,  Hut,  Hoft'man, 
Hubmeir  and  others  differed  and  how  each  secured  a 
large   personal    following.     The   masses  were   adrift. 


THE   ANABAPTISTS  47 

trusting-  neither  Catholics  nor  Lutherans  nor  Zwing- 
lians,  anxiously  awaiting  leaders. 

Persecution,  which  soon  set  in,  made  secrecy 
necessar}^  and  a  common  organization  impossible. 
Each  congregation  was  left  to  follow  the  bent  of  its 
own  Biblical  interpretation  or  fanatical  impulse. 
Neither  was  S3^stem  and  organization  consistent  with 
the  spirit  of  the  movement.  The  people  had  just  freed 
themselves  from  authority  and  tyranny  and  had  just 
succeeded  in  separating  church  and  state.  The  very 
thing  they  were  fighting  for  was  individual  freedom  in 
matters  of  religion. 

Amid  all  of  this  diversity  the  people  whom  we  cal] 
Anabaptists,  including  even  the  most  fanatical,  had 
many  things  in  common ;  the  most  fundamental  of 
which  were  probably : 

1.  The  attempt  to  return  in  matters  of  faith  as  well 
as  church  discipline  to  the  example  of  the  early  primi- 
tive church  as  it  existed  in  the  apostolic  times.  The 
Bible  was  made  the  final  authority  on  all  matters  of 
faith  and  discipline.  The  New  Testament  was  given 
preference  over  the  Old,  which  was  generally  not  con- 
sidered binding  on  the  true  believers;  yet  some  re- 
ceived from  the  Old  Testament  many  sugges- 
tions for  the  establishing  of  the  new  Jerusalem.  In 
addition  to  the  Bible  as  authority  there  was  the  inner 
light  or  direct  revelation  from  God.  This  belief  w^as 
common  to  all  to  a  certain  extent  but  received  different 
emphasis  from  difterent  sects.  Miinzer  placed  direct 
revelation  far  above  the  Bible  as  the  guide  for  life. 
The  same  tendency  prevailed  among  the  followers  of 
Hans  Hut,  and  ]\Ielchior  Hofifman. 

2.    Complete  separation  of  church  and  state.     No 


48  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

temporal  or  ecclesiastical  authority  has  a  right  to  force 
an  unsatisfactory  Biblical  interpretation  upon  an  un- 
willing subject.  Justification  must  come  through  an 
individual  faith.  But  faith  alone  is  not  sufficient  (and 
here  they  differed  from  the  Lutherans)  it  must  be 
accompanied  by  works,  the  exercise  of  man's  own  free 
will.  Baptism  was  the  outward  expression  of  this 
belief.  No  importance  was  attached  to  the  mere  act  of 
baptism.  All  were  agreed  that  infant  baptism  was  un- 
necessary, but  not  all  insisted  on  the  necessity  of  the 
outward  rebaptism.  With  some,  the  inward  baptism 
that  comes  from  the  regeneration  of  the  heart  was 
sufficient, 

3.  In  many  points  of  doctrine  also  there  was  a 
common  dissatisfaction  with  both  the  Catholic  and 
Reformed  and  Lutheran  views.  The  Lord's  supper 
was  viewed  only  as  a  token  of  remembrance  and  not 
as  containing  the  actual  body  of  Christ.  All  agreed  on 
the  abolition  of  the  mass.  On  the  subject  of  the 
Trinity,  incarnation  and  other  doctrinal  points  there 
was  a  difference  of  opinion,  giving  rise  to  several 
distinct  sects, 

4.  The  Anabaptists  always  excluded  themselves 
from  the  rest  of  the  world.  They  were  the  elect  and 
all  who  would  not  believe  as  they  did  were  lost.  We 
have  already  seen  that  politically  and  religiously  they 
had  nothing  in  common  with  other  people.  Many  of 
them  carried  this  spirit  of  exclusion  into  their  social 
and  business  relations.  In  many  cases  members  of  the 
congregations  could  carry  on  business  only  with  mem- 
bers of  the  same  faith.  Marriage  with  outsiders  was 
strictly  forbidden. 

5.  Of   government   there   was   no   need   by   the 


THE   ANABAPTISTS  49 

Christian.  It  was  a  necessity,  but  only  for  the  un- 
righteous. This  is  the  view  found  in  most  of  the 
confessions  of  faith  ;psued  by  the  large  assemblages  of 
the  leaders  as  at  Schleitheim,  1527.  This  was  the  non- 
resistant  attitude,  held  by  the  majority  of  the  Swiss. 
Goveinment  was  a  necessity,  was  divinely  ordained  to 
punish  the  wicked  and  reward  the  rightequs.  A 
Christian,  however,  could  not  become  a  magistrate 
although  he  must  render  obedience  and  pay  his  just 
taxes.  He  could  not  take  up  the  sword  to  kill  even  at 
the  call  of  his  country.  He  could  not  take  the  oath. 
Christ  taught  him  to  say,  "Yea,  yea ;   nay,  nay." 

Bullinger  includes  the  attitude  of  non-resistance 
in  his  long  list  of  tenets  held  in  common  by  the  large 
majority  of  Anabaptists.  There  were,  however,  two 
other  well-defined  views  regarding  civil  government; 
the  one  represented  by  Hubmeir  and  the  other  by  John 
of  Leyden.  The  former  believed  in  government,  paid 
all  taxes  and  obeyed  all  its  ordinances  that  did  not 
interfere  with  the  free  exercise  of  religion.  It  was 
proper  to  use  the  sword  outside  of  persecution.  Th? 
latter  believed  in  the  establishment  of  Christ's 
kingdom  by  the  sword  at  the  cost  of  sedition  and 
revolution. 

6.  The  disobedient  were  to  be  punished  with  the 
church  ban.  To  be  excluded  from  the  rights  and 
privileges  of  the  membership  at  large.  Later  there  was 
considerable  difference  of  opinion  on  this  question, 
which  resulted  in  several  distinct  divisions. 

In  addition  to  these  principles  which  the  large 
body  of  Anabaptists  held  more  or  less  in  common, 
there  were  certain  other  well-defined  tendencies  which 
in  spirit  at  least  were  also  common  to  all,  but  upon 


so  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

which  there  was  a  greater  divergence  of  opinion  and 
practice  than  upon  the  six  articles  above  mentioned. 
On  the  question  of  community  of  goods  there  was 
much  difference  of  teaching  as  well  as  practice.  Traces 
of  a  well-marked  tendency  in  that  direction,  however. 
can  be  found  in  all.  It  was  a  characteristic  of  the  early 
apostolic  church.  The  oppression  that  the  poor,  un- 
propertied  classes  had  to  bear,  naturally  strength- 
ened whatever  natural  tendency  there  may  have  been 
in  a  movement  of  this  kind.  Some  actually  had 
everything  in  common,  others,  including  Hubmeir  and 
Grebel,  said  it  was  not  compulsory  but  that  the 
brethren  ought  to  be  willing  freely  to  help  one  another 
in  case  of  need. 

The  belief  in  the  early  coming  of  Christ  was  also 
characteristic  of  them  to  a  greater  or  less  degree,  in 
their  hopes  and  expectations.  Among  the  earlier  Ana- 
baptists the  day  may  have  been  at  some  distance  in  the 
future  and  its  coming  may  have  been  only  a  hope  and  a 
longing,  but  in  the  case  of  Hoffman  and  Hut,  a  definite 
time  was  set,  while  in  the  case  of  John  of  Leyden  the 
day  had  actually  come  and  John  was  to  be  the  king  of 
the  new  dispensation. 

The  refusal  to  pay  tithes  and  taxes  on  the  part  of 
the  more  radical,  had  its  germ  in  the  teaching  of  the 
more  conservative,  many  of  whom  taught  that  they 
really  owed  nothing  to  the  government,  but  paid  taxes 
simply  to  escape  persecution.  Stumpf,  one  of  the  early 
founders,  and  Grebel  told  Zwingli  that  they  desired  to 
found  a  church  which  should  be  made  up  of  truly  con- 
verted Christians  who  would  live  righteously,  cling  to 
the  Gospel,  and  who  would  not  be  burdened  with  taxes 
or  other  forms  of  usury. 


THE   ANABAPTISTS  51 

As  we  have  already  seen,  the  principles  which 
characterized  the  faith  of  the  Anabaptists  can  not  be 
traced  to  any  single  individual  as  a  source.  The  move- 
ment seems  to  have  sprung  up  almost  simultaneously 
over  Switzerland  and  Southern  Germany,  especially 
along  the  upper  Rhine  country.  The  soil  was  well  pre- 
])ared  for  the  reception  of  Anabaptist  doctrine  by 
<.arlier  evangelical  sects. 

Among  other  deep  seated  causes  that  made  possible 
this  rapid  spread,  not  the  least  potent  was  the  increased 
and  almost  universal  interest  taken  in 
Causes  for  the    reading   of    the    Bible    among   the 

Rapid  Spread  common  people.  The  Bible  for  a  long 
time  had  been  a  sealed  book  to  the 
laity,  but  by  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century  a 
new  interest  was  taken  in  the  study  of  the  book.  Many 
translations  appeared  about  this  time  making  it  possi- 
ble for  the  common  people  to  get  some  knowledge  of 
its  contents.  Between  1466-1518  there  were  no  less 
than  fourteen  complete  translations  of  the  whole  Bible 
in  the  High  German  language  and  four  in  the  Low 
German  dialect.  In  addition,  up  to  1518  the  Gospels 
had  appeared  in  about  twenty-five  editions,  the  Psalms 
in  thirteen  and  other  portions  of  the  Bible  in  many 
more. 

The  leaders  of  the  Anabaptists  were  invariably 
wxll  versed  in  the  Bible,  the  uneducated  as  well  as 
those  who  had  studied  at  the  Universities.  It  is  fair  to 
say  that  in  knowledge  of  the  text  of  the  Bible  the 
Anabaptists  were  much  in  advance  of  both  the  Luth- 
eran and  Catholic  clergy.  It  is  not  at  all  strange 
that  these  simple-minded  people  as  many  of  them  were, 
•coming  fresh  upon  the  contents  of  this  hitherto  sealed 


52  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

book  should  attempt  to  interpret  it  literally  and  rein- 
state the  conditions  which  prevailed  in  apostolic  times. 
The  times  were  favorable  for  the  movement.  The 
peasants  were  oppressed  and  had  to  pay  heavy  taxes  to 
support  a  government  and  a  church  in  which  they  had 
no  faith.  They  were  denied  many  of  the  privileges  and 
rights  which  they  believed  were  theirs  by  nature  but 
which  had  not  been  granted  to  them  because  the  old 
feudal  regime  had  not  yet  completely  died  out  in 
central  Europe.  In  the  example  of  the  early  apostolic 
church  they  found  a  remedy  for  the  burdens,  industrial, 
social  and  political  which  they  were  bearing.  It  is  not 
at  all  strange  that  in  some  places  the  movement  be- 
came political  and  social  as  well  as  religious.  In  fact 
it  was  almost  impossible  for  a  movement  of  this  kind, 
imder  the  conditions  of  the  time,  to  remain  entirely  free 
from  political  and  social  questions.  At  any  rate  the 
hard  lot  of  the  peasant  made  it  easier  for  the  new  faith 
to  make  its  appeal  to  him  than  might  otherwise  have 
been  possible. 


Bibliography.  Sebastian  Franck,  Chronica:  C.  A.  Cornelius,  Dei 
Miinsterischen  Aufruhrs ;  Johann  C.  Fiisslin,  Beitriige  zur  Kirchen  Oe- 
schichte;  Heinrich  BuUinger,  Der  Wiedertouferen  Ursprung,  Fiirgang, 
.Sekten,  etc. ;  and  the  works  of  Keller,  Egli.  Erbkam,  Beck,  Nitsche,  Bronn, 
Miiller,  A.  H.   Newman,   Belfort  Bax,   Heath,   Burrage,  etc. 


CHAPTER    II 

MENNO  SIMONS  AND  THE  MENNONITES 
OF  EUROPE 

As  we  have  seen,  Anabaptists  of  several  types 
appeared  early  in  the  Netherlands  and  Northwestern 

Germany.  These  were  not  all  followers 
Early  Life      of  IMelchior  Hoffman  and  John  of  Leyden, 

but  many  retained  their  peaceful  and  non- 
resistant  principles.  Among  the  leaders  of  the  latter 
in  this  region  were  Dirck  and  Obbe  Philip,  Leonard 
Bouwens  and  later  ]\Ienno  Simons. 

Menno  Simons  was  born  1492,  in  the  village  of 
Witmarsum  in  West  Friesland.  He  was  educated  for 
the  priesthood  and  entered  upon  the  duties  of  his  office 
at  the  age  of  twenty-eight  in  the  neighboring  village  of 
Pingjum,  According  to  his  own  account  he  had  at  this 
time  very  little  knowledge  of  the  Bible  and  no  religious 
convictions.  For  several  years  he  lived  a  life  of  ease 
and  self-indulgence  and  seemed  entirely  oblivious  of 
the  great  religious  reformation  that  was  at  this  time 
sweeping  over  middle  .Europe.  This  very  apathy  per- 
haps finally  caused  him  to  question  the  correctness  of 
some  of  the  traditional  ceremonies  of  the  church,  for  on 


54  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

one  occasion  during  the  early  years  of  liis  priesthood 
while  he  was  perfunctorily  administering;  the  mass,  the 
thought  suddenly  struck  him  that  the  bread  and  wine 
he  was  handling  could  not  be  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ.  He  attributed  this  suggestion  to  the  devil  and 
prayed  and  confessed,  but  the  conviction  did  not  leave 
him. 

Once  led  to  doubt  the  truth  of  the  prevailing 
svstem,  it  was  but  inevitable  that  he  should  be  impelled 
to  study  the  new  teachings  which  already  at  this  time 
had  found  their  way  into  Lower  Germany  and  the 
Xetherlan^ls.  The  martyrdom  in  1533  of  Sicke  Snyder 
in  a  neighboring  town,  on  the  charge  of  Anabaptism 
made  a  deep  imprcsssion  upon  Mcnno's  mind,  and  led 
him  to  study  the  question  of  infant  baptism.  He  read 
the  New  Testament  and  found  that  there  was  no 
scriptural  basis  for  the  practice.  He  then  consulted 
the  writings  of  Luther,  who  taught  that  infants  should 
be  baptized  on  their  own  faith.  Not  satisfied  with 
Luther's  argument  he  next  consulted  Bucer,  who  said 
that  infants  should  be  baptized  in  order  that  they  might 
more  easily  be  brought  up  in  the  way  of  the  Lord.  He 
next  went  to  BuUinger  who  taught  that  infant  baptism 
was  a  sign  of  the  new  covenant  as  circumcision  was  of 
the  old.  Menno  was  convinced  by  none  of  these  con- 
tradictory views  and  decided  that  all  were  contrary  to 
the  teaching  of  the  New  Testament. 

During  this  time,  1534-5,  occurred  also  the  un- 
fortunate Miinster  episode  which  brought  shame  upon 
the  Anabaptist  name  and  led  thousands  of  well  mean- 
ing, though  fanatical  enthusiasts  to  destruction.  In 
February,  1535,  over  three  hundred  of  these  people  had 


MENNO  SIMONS  AND  THE  AIENNONITES      55 

taken  refuge  in  a  monastery  near  jMenno's  home  and 
most  of  them,  including  his  own  brother,  fell  in  battle. 

This  event  made  a  profound  impression  upon 
Menno's  mind,  and  aroused  him  more  than  ever  to 
take  a  firm  stand  against  the  errors  of  the  time. 

lie  says : 

Thus  reflecting  upon  these  things,  my  soul  was  so 
grieved  that  I  could  no  longer  endure  it.  I  thought  to  my- 
self— I,  miserable  man,  what  shall  I  do?  If  I  continue  in  this 
way  and  live  not  agreeably  to  the  Word  of  the  Lord,  accord- 
ing to  the  knowledge  which  I  have  obtained;  if  I  do  not 
rebuke  to  the  best  of  my  limited  ability  the  hypocrisy,  the 
impenitent,  carnal  life,  the  perverted  baptism,  the  Lord's 
supper  and  the  false  worship  of  God  which  the  learned  teach; 
if  I,  through  bodily  fear,  do  not  show  them  the  true  founda- 
tion of  the  truth,  neither  use  all  of  my  powers  to  direct  the 
wandering  flock,  who  would  gladly  do  their  duty  if  they  knew 
it,  to  the  true  pastures  of  Christ — Oh,  how  shall  their  blood, 
though  shed  in  error,  rise  against  me  at  the  judgment  of  the 
Almighty,  and  pronounce  sentence  against  my  poor,  miserable 
soul. 

My  heart  trembled  in  my  body.  I  prayed  to  God  in 
sighs  and  tears  that  He  would  give  me,  a  troubled  sinner, 
the  gift  of  His  grace,  and  create  a  clean  heart  within  me, 
that  through  the  merits  of  the  crimson  blood  ef  Christ,  He 
would  graciously  forgive  my  unclean  walk  and  unprofitable 
life,  and  bestow  upon  me  wisdom,  Spirit,  candor,  and  fortitude, 
that  I  might  preach  His  exalted  and  adorable  name  and  holy 
Word  unperverted  and  make  manifest  His  truth  to  His  praise. 

This  may  be  considered  a  turning  point  in  Menno 
Simons'  life;  after  this  he  followed  with  unswerving 
loyalty,  and  single-minded  devotion  the  path  of  duty 
as  his  conscience  and  the  Word  of  God  pointed  it  out 
to  him. 

In  1536  he  openly  renounced  the  Roman  Catholic 


56  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

Church  and  a  year  later  at  the  urgent  request  of  a 
small  deputation  of  peaceful  and  non- 
T?enounces  resistant  Anabaptists,  whose  leaders  had 
Catholicism  all  been  driven  out  of  the  land  or  put  to 
death,  he  cast  his  lot  with  that  despised 
people  and  was  ordained  to  the  ministry  by  Obbe 
Philip.  Henceforth  he  readily  became  their  most  in- 
fluential leader.  Thus  he  became  not  the  founder  of  a 
-new  religious  denomination,  but  rather  the  organizer 
of  a  body  of  people  who  were  already  more  or  less 
numerous  in  the  land,  but  who  were  awaiting  a  leader 
to  gather  together  their  scattered  forces  and  organize 
them  into  an  efficient  working  body. 

Menno  immediately  entered  upon  an  active  cam- 
paign in  behalf  of  the  new  faith.  The  rest  of  his  life 
was  spent  in  preaching  the  Gospel, 
Controversial  organizing  new  churches  and  writing 
Writings  in  defence  of  his  position.    His  writings 

are  still  extant  and  have  been  fre- 
quently translated  from  the  Dutch  into  the  German 
-and  several  times  into  the  English  language. 

On  baptism,  the  supper,  faith,  magistracy  and 
other  church  doctrines  and  practices  he  held  the  views 
of  the  majority  of  the  peaceful  Anabaptists  of  his  day. 

Infant  baptism  he  renounces  and  says  "it  is  a  self- 
begotten  rite  and  human  righteousness ;  for  in  all  the 
New  Testament  there  is  not  a  word  or  command  about 
baptizing  infants,  by  Christ  nor  by  the  apostles." 

The  true  significance  of  baptism  is  set  forth  as 
follows : 

The  believing  receive  remission  of  sins,  not  through  baptism, 
but  in  baptism  in  this  manner:   As  they  now  sincerely  believe 


MENNO  SIMONS  AND  THE  MENNONITES       57 

the  lowly  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  which  has  been  preached  and 
taught  to  them,  which  is  the  glad  tidings  of  grace,  namely  the 
remission  of  sin,  of  grace,  of  peace,  of  favor,  of  mercy  and  of 
eternal  life  through  Jesus  Christ,  our  Lord,  so  they  become  of 
a  new  mind,  deny  themselves,  bitterly  lament  their  old,  cor- 
rupted life,  and  look  diligently  to  the  Word  of  the  Lord  who 
has  shown  them  such  great  love;  to  fulfill  all  that  which  He 
has  taught  and  commanded  them  in  His  holy  Gospel,  trusting 
firmly  in  the  word  of  grace,  in  the  remission  of  their  sins 
through  the  precious  blood  and  through  the  merits  of  our 
beloved  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

They  therefore  receive  the  holy  baptism  as  a  token  of 
obedience  which  proceeds  from  faith,  as  proof,  before  God 
and  His  church,  that  they  firmly  believe  in  the  remission  of 
their  sins  through  Jesus  Christ. 

The  Supper  according  to  Menno  is  not  the  eating 
of  the  actual  flesh  of  Jesus,  as  both  the  CathoHcs  and 
Lutherans  maintained,  but  merely  a  symbol  of  His 
suffering. 

The  bread  is  no  flesh  and  the  wine  no  blood;  for  were 
they  flesh  and  blood  as  the  idolaters  pretend  and  teach  the 
poor  people,  one  of  two  consequences  must  follow;  either 
the  perishable  bread  and  wine  are  changed  into  the  imperish- 
able and  heavenly  Son  of  God,  or  the  Son  of  God  must  be 
changed  into  bread  and  wine.  This  is  incontrovertible. 
Christ  Jesus  is  not  like  the  fabulous  Proteus,  now  like  the 
everlasting  Son  of  the  eternal  Omnipotent  God,  and  then  a 
perishable  creature,  bread  and  wine.  Oh,  no!  He  is  un- 
changeable through  all  eternity.  Neither  can  He  be  confined 
in  any  house,  church  or  chamber,  in  silver  or  golden  vessels; 
for  according  to  His  eternal,  divine  Being,  earth  is  His  foot- 
stool, and  after  His  holy  humanity  He  ascended  into  heaven 
and  sits  at  the  right  hand  of  His  Father. 

On  the  subject  of  the  incarnation  he  differed  not 
only  from  the  leading  theologians  of  the  Lutheran  and 
Zwinglian  denominations  but  also  from  many  of  the 
leaders  in  his  own.     His  views  practically  involved  a 


58  MENNOXITES    OF    AMERICA 

<lenial  of  the  true  humanity  of  Christ  and  were  the 
source  of  frequent  disputes  between  himself  and  his 
brethren. 

The  fundamental  tenets  of  Menno's  belief  are 
quite  well  expressed  by  the  following-  extract  from  a 
treatise  of  his  on  the  new  birth: 

Behold,  worthy  reader,  all  those  who  are  born  of  God 
with  Christ,  who  thus  conform  their  weak  life  to  the  Gospel, 
are  thus  converted,  and  follow  the  example  of  Christ,  hear 
;!nd  believe  His  holy  Word,  follow  His  commands,  which 
He,  in  plain  words  commanded  us  in  the  holy  Scriptures, 
form  the  holy  Christian  church  which  has  the  promise;  the 
true  children  of  God,  brothers  and  sisters  of  Christ;  for  they 
.are  born  with  Him  of  one  Father,  and  of  the  new  Eve,  the 
pure,  chaste  bride.  They  are  flesh  of  Christ's  flesh,  and  bone 
-of  His  bone,  the  spiritual  house  of  Israel,  the  spiritual  city, 
Jerusalem,  temple  and  Mount  Zion,  the  spiritual  ark  of  the 
Ix>rd,  in  which  are  hidden  the  true  bread  of  heaven,  Christ 
Jesus  and  His  blessed  Word,  the  green,  blossoming  rod  of 
faith,  and  the  spiritual  tables  of  stone,  with  the  commands  of 
the  Lord  written  thereon;  they  are  the  spiritual  seed  of 
Abraham,  children  of  the  promise,  confederates  of  the  cove- 
nant of  God,  and  partakers  of  the  heavenly  blessings. 

These  regenerated  have  a  spiritual  King  over  them,  who 
rules  them  by  the  unbroken  scepter  of  His  mouth,  namely, 
with  His  Holy  Spirit  and  Word.  He  clothes  them  with  the 
garment  of  righteousness,  of  pure  white  silk;  He  refreshes 
them  with  the  living  water  of  His  Holy  Spirit,  and  feeds  them 
with  the  bread  of  life.  His  name  is  Christ  Jesus.  They  are 
the  children  of  peace,  who  have  beaten  their  swords  into 
plough-shares,  and  their  spears  into  pruning-hooks.^and  know 
of  no  war;  and  give  to  Caesar  the  things  that  are  Caesar's, 
and  to  God  the  things  that  are  God's  (Isa.  2:4;  Matt.  22:21). 
Their  sword  is  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  which  they  hold  in  a 
good  conscience  through  the  Holy  Ghost.  Their  marriage  is 
that  of  one  man  and  one  woman,  according  to  the  ordinance 
of  God.  Their  kingdom  is  the  kingdom  of  grace,  here  in  hope, 
and  after  this  in  eternal  life  (Eph.  6:17;    Matt.  19:5;   25:1). 


MENNO  SIMONS  AND  THE  MENNONITES       59 

Their  citizenship  is  in  heaven;  and  they  use  the  creatures 
below,  such  as  eating,  drinking,  clothing  and  dwelling  with 
thanksgiving,  and  that  to  the  necessary  wants  of  their  own 
lives,  and  to  the  free  service  of  their  neighbor,  according  to 
the  Word  of  the  Lord  (Isa.  58:7).  Their  doctrine  is  the  un- 
adulterated Word  of  God,  testified  through  Moses  and  the 
prophets,  through  Christ  and  the  apostles,  upon  which  they 
build  their  faith,  and  save  their  souls;  and  everything  that  is 
contrary  thereto,  they  consider  accursed.  They  use  and  ad- 
minister their  baptism  on  the  confession  of  their  faith,  accord- 
ing to  the  command  of  the  Lord,  and  the  doctrines  and  usage* 
of  the  apostles  (Mark  16:16). 

The  Lord's  supper  they  celebrate  in  remembrance  of  the 
farors  and  death  of  their  Lord,  and  in  reminding  one  another 
of  true  and  krotherly  love. 

The  ban  extends  to  all  the  proud  scorners,  great  and 
small,  rich  and  poor,  without  any  respect  to  person,  who  heard 
and  obeyed  the  Word  for  a  season,  but  have  fallen  oflf  again, 
and  in  the  house  of  the  Lord,  teach  or  live  offensively,  till 
they  again  sincerely  repent. 

They  sigh  and  lament  daily  over  their  poor,  displeasing, 
evil  flesh,  over  the  manifold  errors  and  faults  of  their  weak 
lives.  They  war  inwardly  and  outwardly  without  ceasing. 
They  seek  and  call  the  Most  High;  fight  and  struggle  against 
the  devil,  world  and  flesh  during  their  lives,  press  on  towards 
the  prize  of  the  high  calling  that  they  may  obtain  it.  And 
they  prove  by  their  actions  that  they  believe  the  Word  of  the 
Lord;  that  they  know  and  have  Christ  in  power;  that  thcj- 
are  born  of  God  and  have  Him  as  their  Father. 

Behold,  worthy  reader,  as  I  said  before,  so  I  say  again. 
These  are  the  Christians  who  have  the  promise,  and  are 
assured  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  to  whom  are  given  and  bestowed 
Christ  Jesus,  with  all  His  merits,  righteousness,  intercessions,, 
word,  cross,  suffering,  flesh,  blood,  death,  resurrection,  king- 
dom, and  all  His  possessions,  and  this  all  without  merit;  given 
out  of  pure  grace  from  God.  But  what  kind  of  doctrine,  faith,. 
life,  regeneration,  baptism,  supper,  ban  and  divine  service,, 
sectarian  churches  have,  of  whatever  name;  and  what  kind  of 
reward   is   promised   them   in   the   Scriptures,    I    will   let   the 


60  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

reasonable  meditate  upon,  ■with  the  aid  of  the  Spirit  and  the 
word  of  the  Lord. 

The  peaceful  Anabaptists  of  the  lower  Rhine 
countries  although  in  no  way  connected  with  the 
followers  of  John  of  Leyden  yet  were  associated  in  the 
popular  mind  with  the  sect  of  Miinsterites.  Menno 
found  it  necessary  to  deny  the  charge.  In  a  tract  de- 
nouncing John  of  Leyden  he  says : 

I  can  fearlessly  challenge  anybody,  that  under  the  broad 
canopy  of  heaven  can  show  and  prove  that  I  ever  agreed  with 
the  Miinsterites  in  regard  to  the  before  mentioned  articles; 
for  from  the  beginning  until  the  present  moment  I  have 
opposed  them  with  diligence  and  earnestness  both  privately 
and  publicly,  verbally  and  in  writing  for  over  seventeen  years 
and  ever  since  I  confessed  the  Word  of  the  Lord  and  knew 
and  sought  His  holy  name  according  to  my  weakness. ^ 

In  their  attitude  toward  the  civil  government 
Menno  and  his  followers  were  also  misunderstood. 
They  practiced  non-participation  in  civil  government, 
but  were  by  no  means  opposed  to  properly  constituted 
a.ithority.    He  says, 

We  now  publicly  confess  that  the  office  of  a  magistrate 
is  ordained  of  God,  as  we  ever  have  confessed  since  we  serve, 
according  to  our  small  talent,  the  Word  of  the  Lord,  and  in 
the  meantime,  we  have  ever  obeyed  them  when  not  contrary 
to  the  Word  of  God  and  we  intend  to  do  so  all  our  lives,  for 
we  are  not  so  stupid  as  not  to  know  what  the  Lord's  Word 
commands  in  this  respect.  We  render  unto  Caesar  the  things 
which  are  Caesar's  as  Christ  teaches  (Matt.  22:21);  we  pray 
for  the  imperial  majesty,  kings,  lords,  princes  and  all  in 
authorit}',  honor  and  obey  them. 

On  these  and  a  number  of  other  doctrines  and 
practices   Menno   was  generally   in   accord   with   the 


1.     Complete  Works  of  Menno  Simons,  part  I,  p.  300. 


MENNO  SIMONS  AND  THE  MENNONITES      61 

views  of  the  peaceful  Anabaptists.  Where  differences 
of  opinion  existed  he  usually  by  the  force  of  his 
personality  succeeded  in  establishing  his  own  inter- 
pretations. The  Mennonites  of  today  in  America  have 
deviated  very  little  from  the  teaching  of  their  first 
great  leader. 

On   many  of  these   questions   Menno  had  public 
debates  or  disputations  as  they  were  called,  with  the 
leading  theologians  of  the  Lutheran  and 
Public  Zwinglian  denominations. 

Disputations  One    of    the    earliest    of    these    dis- 

putations was  held  in  1543  with  John 
a  Lasco  on  the  incarnation,  the  two  natures  of 
Christ,  sanctification,  hereditary  sin,  etc.  The  debate 
lasted  for  three  or  four  days,  but,  as  was  usually 
the  case  in  such  events,  it  ended  without  results, 
both  sides  claiming  the  victory.  He  later  also 
entered  into  public  debates  and  literary  controversies 
with  Martin  Micronius  and  Gellius  Faber,  two  well- 
known  theologians  of  that  day. 

These  teachings  of  course  brought  Menno  into 
bitter  opposition  to  the  Catholics,  as  well  as  the 
Lutheran  and  Reformed  churches.  Those  who  like 
him  held  or  taught  these  opinions  were  never  safe  in 
their  lives  and  possessions.  Menno  was  compelled  ta 
remain  in  hiding  during  the  greater  portion  of  his  life. 

He  spent  the  first  few  years  after  his  renunciation 
of  the  Roman  church  in  West  Friesland  where,  under 

the  tolerant  Duke  Charles  of  Gelders,, 
Price  Set  on  the  persecuted  sects  enjoyed  a  short 
Menno's  Head       period  of  rest.     In  1542,  however,  the 

Emperor,  Charles  V,  offered  a  reward 
of  one  hundred  guilders,  the  equivalent  of  forty  dollars 


62  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

for  his  arrest.  A  description  of  his  person  was  nailed  on 
the  church  doors  to  make  his  capture  the  easier.  He  fled 
to  East  Friesland  and  was  finally  driven  to  the  city  of 
Cologne  where  he  remained  for  two  j^ears,  but  he  was 
finally  driven  from  that  place  also.  For  the  next  seven 
years  he  found  an  asylum  in  the  East  Sea  region  with 
headquarters  at  Wismar  where  he  organized  a  small 
congregation  of  his  followers.  During  this  time  he 
visited  Embden,  the  stronghold  of  the  Mennonites  of 
Northern  Europe.  In  this  region  Menno  and  his  fol- 
lowers were  tolerated  by  the  state  authorities,  but  were 
compelled  by  the  established  church  to  lead  a  quiet 
and  secluded  life.  Their  worship  was  carried  on  in 
private  houses,  in  fields  and  out  of  the  way  places. 
Their  dead  were  buried  without  the  sound  of  the 
church  bell.  Finally  in  1555  the  Lutheran  cities  of  the 
Hanseatic  league  succeeded  in  banishing  all  Anabap- 
tists. Menno  again  fled  for  his  life.  This  time  he 
found  an  asylum  on  the  estates  of  Count  of  Fresenburg 
in  Holstein  where  he  remained  until  his  death  four 
years  later. 

Not  only  was  a  price  set  upon  Menno's  head  but 
even  those  who  gave  him  aid  in  any  form  were  sum- 
marily punished.  In  1539  a  man  was  burned  at  the 
stake  at  Leuwarden  for  having  taken  him  into  his 
home.  Two  others  met  the  same  fate  for  printing  his 
writings.  In  1546  four  houses  were  confiscated  be- 
cause the  owner  had  rented  one  for  a  short  time  to 
Menno's  sick  wife  and  children. 

The  later  years  of  Menno's  life  were  saddened  by 
dissensions  and  differences  of  opinion  among  his  own 
followers  and  co-laborers.  Among  the  most  trouble- 
some questions  Vv'as  that  of  the  ban,  and  its  applica- 


MENNO  SIMONS  AND  THE  MENNONITES      63 

tion   to  the   religious  and   social   relations.     In   1547 
Menno  met  Dirck  and  Obbe  Philip, 
DiflFerences  among    Leonard   Bouwens  and  other  lead- 
His  Followers  ers  at  Embden  to  discuss  this  ques- 

tion. Some  of  these  men  insisted  on  a 
rigorous  application  of  the  practice  while  others 
favored  greater  moderation.  The  specific  point  on 
which  they  disagreed  was  with  reference  to  the 
marital  avoidance.  Menno  contended  that  in  case 
cither  husband  or  wife  were  excommunicated  from  the 
church  it  was  the  duty  of  the  believing  member  to  re- 
fuse to  co-habit  with  the  one  excluded.  This  extreme 
view  he  pushed  with  greater  zeal  than  wisdom,  for  it 
resulted  in  driving  Obbe  Philip  from  the  Anabaptist 
ranks  and  was  the  source  of  considerable  trouble 
among  his  followers  later  on. 

In  1555  another  conference  was  held  at  Strasburg 
of  the  German  brethren  at  which  the  questions  of  the 
incarnation  and  church  discipline  were  discussed. 
Menno  was  not  present  but  received  a  report  of  the 
meeting  and  was  dissatisfied  with  the  results  of  its 
proceedings.  He  and  Dirck  Philip,  in  turn,  drew  up 
several  rules  of  discipline  which  they  wished  the 
churches  to  follow.  These  rules  declared  in  favor  of 
a  rigid  application  of  the  practice  of  shunning  in  all 
social  and  marital  relations.  Military  service  was 
prohibited  and  no  one  was  to  set  himself  up  as  a 
teacher  or  preacher  until  he  had  been  chosen  by  the 
church  and  ordained  by  the  elders. 

The  first  of  these  rules  Menno  and  his  friends 
found  extremely  difficult  to  enforce.  He  later  let  up  a 
little  in  his  exactions  and  spent  his  last  years  in  visit- 
ing the  various  churches  throughout  Friesland  in  the 


64  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

interests  of  harmony,  but  he  was  not  entirely  success- 
ful.   He  died  January  13,  1559,  and  was  buried 
Death     ^"  ^^^  ^"^^  garden. 

Thus  lived  and  died  one  of  the  great  heroes 
of  the  Reformation.  Although  he  played  a  less  conspicu- 
ous role  in  that  great  crisis  than  did  his  contemporaries 
— Luther  and  Zwingli — yet  his  real  greatness  cannot  be 
measured  by  the  humble  part  he  seemed  to  play  upon 
the  religious  arena  of  that  time.  His  task  in  many 
respects  was  more  difficult  than  that  of  the  found- 
ers of  the  state  churches.  While  they  de- 
pended upon  a  union  of  state  and  church  and 
the  support  of  the  strong  arm  of  the  temporal 
government,  ]\Ienno  considered  the  force  of  love 
and  the  simple  truth  of  the  Gospel  to  be  vital  enough 
to  secure  the  permanency  of  his  system  without 
being  propped  up  by  the  temporal  authority.  As  an 
embodiment  of  the  simple,  humble  and  Christ-like 
spirit  and  as  an  exponent  of  the  religion  of  the 
common  man,  based  upon  the  example  of  the  early 
primitive  Christian  church,  Menno  Simons  must  ever 
be  given  a  pre-eminent  place  among  the  heroes  of  the 
Reformation. 

Menno's  influence  extended  throughout  the  Ana- 
baptist communities  of  the  Netherlands  and  Germany. 
Wherever  he  went  he  established  new 
Influence  churches  and  strengthened  old  congrega- 
tions. The  conference  already  spoken  of 
which  was  held  at  Strasburg  in  1555  referred  to  him  for 
advice  on  several  questions  of  doctrine.  Delegates 
were  present  here  from  Wurtemberg,  Suabia,  Alsace, 
Moravia,  the  Palatinate  and  Switzerland.  It  is  evident 
that  by  this  time  he  was  already  considered  a  leader 


MENNO  SIMONS  AND  THE  MENNONITES      65, 

among  the  Anabaptists  of  these  countries,  although  he, 
had  never  visited  any  of  them.  His  influence  over 
these  churches  was  such  that  soon  they  began  to  be 
known  by  his  name.  The  term  "Menist"  was  first 
used  in  1544  by  Countess  Anne  in  West  Friesland. 
From  this  time  on  the  Anabaptists  of  the  Netherlands 
as  well  as  those  of  Germany  and  Switzerland  were 
frequently  called  Menists,  which  term  has  since  be- 
come in  the  English  language,  Mennonites. 

The  Mennonites  in  the  Netherlands 

The  Netherlands  remained  for  some  time  the  prin- 
ciple stronghold  of  the  Mennonites.  Here  they  were 
severely  persecuted  by  both  the  Catholic  and  Re- 
formed churches.  They  were  forced  to  hold  their 
meetings  for  worship  behind  dikes  and  on  small 
islands.  Frequently  their  property  was  confiscated. 
In  Friesland  from  1531  to  1574  eighteen  suffered  a. 
martyr's  death.  Duke  Alva's  rule  was  especially  hard 
on  them,  for  many  of  them  held  property  which  Alva 
desired  for  himself.  In  Holland  and  Zealand  alone  one 
hundred  and  eleven  Mennonites  lost  their  lives  by 
burning  and    drowning. 

.;  When  in  1573  William  of  Orange  openly  re- 
nounced the  Catholic  faith  and  assumed  the  leadership 
of  the  Dutch  patriots  in  their 
William  of  Orange  struggle  against  Spanish  tyranny. 
Protects  Mennonites  the  Mennonites  were  given  their 
first  taste  of  religious  toleration. 
Although  they  refused  to  bear  arms  during  these  criti- 
cal years,  yet  the  Stadtholder's  good  will  was  gained  by 
large  contributions  which  they  made  to  his  treasury; 
for  all  through  the  war  with  Spain  the  Mennonites 


66  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

occupied  the  somewhat  inconsistent  position  of  refus- 
ing to  bear  arms,  yet  aiding  the  patriotic  cause  in- 
directly, by  large  contributions  of  money. 

During  this  period  of  limited  toleration,  the 
Mennonites  became  as  a  body  a  prosperous  people. 
They  were  among  the  most  thrifty  and 
Thrifty  and  industrious  people  in  the  land,  and  were 
Industrious  noted  for  their  honesty  and  uprightness. 
They  were  also  among  the  largest  con- 
tributors to  all  benevolent  causes.  During  the  latter 
sixteenth  century  and  all  through  the  seventeenth  they 
sent  large  sums  of  money  and  provisions  to  their 
persecuted  brethren  in  the  Palatinate  and  Switzerland. 
But  their  gifts  were  not  confined  to  the  needy  of  their 
own  faith.  Every  appeal  to  help  in  a  just  cause  met 
a  hearty  response  from  them.  Although  they  insisted 
upon  the  greatest  simplicity  in  every  detail  of  daily 
living  yet  everything  they  used  was  of  the  very  best 
material.  The  term  "Menist  fine"  finally  came  to  be 
used  among  the  tradesmen  of  the  Netherlands  as  a 
synonym  for  the  best  that  could  be  secured. 

As  soon  as  the  Catholic  church  lost  its  hold  upon 
the  temporal  powers  in  the  Netherlands,  the  Calvinistic 

Reformed  church  assumed  the 
Persecutions  by  the  role  of  persecutor  of  the  Mennon- 
Reformed    Church        ites.       The  Anabaptist  doctrines 

of  the  separation  of  church  and 
state  and  of  the  voluntary  congregational  form  of 
church  organization  was  as  distasteful  to  the  Reformed 
as  to  the  Catholics,  since  these  principles,  if  they  could 
be  put  into  practice,  would  put  an  end  to  the  rule  of  all 
established  churches.  The  efforts  of  the  Calvinists 
proved    of    little    consequence,    however,    since    the 


MENNO  SIMONS  AND  THE  MENNONITES      G7 

Mennonites  were  protected  at  first  by  William  and 
later  by  his  successor,  Maurice  of  Nassau.  By  the  time 
of  the  death  of  the  latter  the  spirit  of  religious  tolera- 
•  tion  had  attained  sufficient  strength  in  the  land  to 
prevent  any  religious  organization  from  severely  per- 
secuting another. 

As  early  as  1574  the  Synod  of  Dort  resolved  to  ask 
the  States  General  to  compel  the  Mennonites  to  have 
their  infants  baptized,  and  if  they  refused,  to  give  the 
Reformed  ministers  the  right  to  deal  with  them  as  they 
thought  best.  They  also  desired  the  privilege  of  enter- 
ing Mennonite  assemblies  to  convince  them  of  the 
error  of  their  way.  These  privileges  of  course  were 
not  granted,  although  the  latter  was  exercised  for  a 
short  time  in  East  Friesland.  In  1577  a  deputation  of 
ministers  appeared  before  the  States  General  again  and 
demanded  that  the  freedom  of  the  Mennonites  be 
limited. 

In  1596  a  public  disputation  lasting  for  two 
months  was  held  at  Leuwarden  between  the  Reformed 
and  Mennonites.  As  usual  in  such  debates  both  sides 
claimed  the  victory.  The  Reformed  party  published 
a  complete  report  of  the  event  which  they  closed  with 
a  fervent  appeal  to  the  temporal  authorities  to  with- 
draw all  toleration  from  the  Mennonites,  since  as  it 
was  said,  their  principles  were  destructive  of  all 
religious  and  civil  order. 

In  1603  the  synod  asked  that  Mennonite  bishops 
be  forbidden  to  evangelize  and  baptize;  in  1604  an  at- 
tempt was  made  to  prevent  young  ministers  from 
being  ordained ;  and  in  1605  a  petition  was  sent  to  the 
government  asking  that  Mennonites  be  prevented  from 


68  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

building  any  more  houses  of  worship.  In  fact  all 
through  the  seventeenth  century  the  Reformed  synods 
tried  to  annihilate  the  Mennonite  faith,  and  if  they 
were  not  successful,  it  was  due,  not  to  any  lack  of  zeal 
on  their  part  but  only  to  the  more  tolerant  spirit  of  the 
Dutch  government. 

The  dissensions  which  darkened  the  last  days  of 
Menno's  life  were  by  no  means  forgotten   after  his 

death.  Honest  dififerences  of  opinion 
Discussions  were  intensified  by  differences  of  race 

on  the  Ban  and  nationality.     The  chief  contention 

was  with  regard  to  church  discipline, 
especially  the  ban.  On  this  question  the  denomination 
was  split  up  into  several  party  divisions.  The  Flem- 
ings occupied  the  extreme  conservative  position,  main- 
tained a  rigid  application  of  the  ban,  and  severe  sim- 
plicity of  dress  and  observed  marital  avoidance  in  the 
case  of  an  excommunicated  member.  Like  the  later 
Amish  in  Switzerland,  they  wore  beards  and  used 
hooks  and  eyes  instead  of  buttons  on  their  clothes. 
At  the  other  extreme  were  the  Waterlander  churches, 
which  were  very  liberal  in  their  interpretation  of  the 
ban  and  other  forms  of  discipline.  They  were  con- 
temptuously called  "Dreckwagen"  by  the  stricter  party 
while  they  in  turn  spoke  of  the  latter  as  the  "Be- 
kiimmerte."  Midway  between  these  two  parties  stood 
the  High  Germans  and  the  Frieslanders  who  believed 
in  a  moderate  discipline.  These  parties  later  became 
united,  although  the  names  by  which  they  were  known 
continued  for  some  time.  By  1649  thirty  Flemish  and 
German  churches  were  represented  in  a  conference 
held  at  that  time.  At  later  conferences  delegates  were 
found  from  all  three  of  the  divisions,  although  isolated 


MENNO  SIMONS  AND  THE  MENNONITES      69 

congregations  refused  for  a  long  while  to  join  the  main 
body. 

In  their  theological  thinking  the  Mennonites  were 
Arminians,  which  partly  explains  why  they  were  hated 
so  by  the  hyper-Calvinistic  Dutch  Reformed  church. 
The  wave  of  Socinianism  which  swept  over  Northern 
Netherlands  during  the  early  seventeenth  century 
was  not  without  some  effect  upon  the  Mennonites. 
Many  of  their  leaders  were  in  sympathy  with  the 
movement. 

In  1619  there  arose  another  movement  in  Rhyns- 
burg,  Holland,  which  exerted  some  influence  upon  the 
Mennonites.  The  followers  of  this  move- 
CoUegiants  ment,  the  Collegiants,  did  not  constitute 
a  separate  organization,  but  were  to  be 
found  in  all  denominations.  They  met  merely  for 
religious  worship ;  repudiated  all  creeds,  and  their 
meetings  were  open  to  all  believers.  They  evaded  all 
controversies  and  tolerated  all  opinions  not  directly 
condemned  by  the  Bible,  and  like  the  Mennonites  they 
opposed  oaths  and  war,  but  administered  baptism  by 
immersion.  One  of  their  distinguishing  characteristics 
was  the  abolition  of  the  office  of  teacher.  Teaching 
and  prophesying  was  not  restricted  to  special  teachers 
but  was  open  to  all.  In  this  respect  they  resembled  the 
later  Quakers.  They  admitted  all  spiritual-minded 
Christians  to  the  communion  table.  Many  Mennonites 
worshiped  with  these  Collegiants,  and  many  of  their 
younger  ministers  exercised  their  gifts  in  these  meet- 
ings. These  liberal  ideas  and  practices  were  not  with- 
out their  influence  upon  the  church  in  some  parts  of 
Holland. 

In  their  religious  practices  the  main  body  of  the 


70  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

Dutch  Mennonites  during  the  sixteenth  and  seven- 
teenth centuries  were  extremely  simple  and 
Religious  unpretentious.  Their  dress  was  plain,  all 
Practices  unnecessary  ornaments  were  discarded, 
even  buckles  and  buttons  in  some  in- 
stances being  taken  off.  Their  preachers  sup- 
ported themselves  and  received  no  special  education. 
During  the  latter  half  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
however,  it  was  recognized  that  the  church  was  suffer- 
ing from  the  lack  of  a  trained  ministry,  and  preachers 
were  chosen  from  men  who  had  been  to  the  Universi- 
ties, chiefly  physicians  and  literary  men.  Later  a 
theological  seminary  was  established.  Their  children 
for  a  long  while  were  not  sent  to  the  Universities. 
They  refused  to  take  the  oath  and  to  enter  military  ser- 
vice. Merchants  were  not  allowed  to  arm  their  ships. 
Controversies  were  adjusted  within  the  church  and 
no  recourse  was  permitted  to  the  courts  of  law.  In 
this  respect  also  the  Dutch  Mennonites  have  deviated 
from  the  old  customs.  Their  principles  of  non-re- 
sistance have  practically  all  been  discarded.  Those 
who  married  unregenerate  persons  or  members  of 
other  churches  were  excommunicated.  Baptism  was 
generally  administered  by  affusion.  In  fact  it  is  doubt- 
ful whether  any  church  in  that  day  or  since  has 
followed  so  nearly  the  spirit  and  practice  of  the  prim- 
itive Christian  church  as  did  the  Dutch  Mennonites 
of  the  late  sixteenth  and  early  seventeenth  centuries. 

One  other  phase  of  the  subject  demands  a  brief 
mention  here — the  relation  of  the  Dutch  Mennonites  to 
the  English  Baptists  and  Quakers. 

During   the    reign    of    Elizabeth    and    the    early 


MENNO  SIMONS  AND  THE  MENNONITES       71 

Stuarts  many  Dutch  found  their  way  into  Southeastern 
England.      Some  of  these  had  come 
Relation  to  as  a  result  of  the  close  commercial 

English  Baptists      connection    between   the   two   coun- 
and  Separatists        tries ;  others  were  driven  out  of  Hol- 
land by  the  cruel  persecutions  of  the 
Catholics.     It  is  said  that  one  hundred  thousand  left 
their  homes  during  the  bloody  rule  of  Alva.     Among 
these  were  large   numbers  of  Anabaptists,   many  of 
whom    were    Mennonites.       These    were   all    termed 
Anabaptists,  however,  since  the  latter  name  had  not 
yet  been  generally  accepted  in  the  Netherlands.    That 
the  two  were  identical  can  be  seen  by  a  comparison  of 
their  religious   beliefs   and   practices.       The   records 
which  were  kept  by  the  authorities,  of  those  who  were 
tried  for  heresy  show  that  they  were  accused  of  re- 
jecting infant  baptism,  and  of  being  opposed  to  the 
oath,  warfare  and  the  holding  of  office.    They  held  the 
prevailing  Anabaptist  view  regarding  the  incarnation, 
and  stood  for  the  entire  independence  of  the  church 
from  the  temporal  authority,  and  for  congregational 
church  government. 

That  these  views  must  have  been  quite  general  in 
this  part  of  England  during  this  time  is  evidenced  by 
the  fact  that  all  the  leading  churches  found  it  necessary 
to  distinctly  repudiate  them  in  their  confessions  of 
faith. 

What  influence  Anabaptist  doctrines  had  upon 
English,  and  incidentally  upon  American  history  is 
also  a  matter  of  dispute.  But  when  we  remember  that 
Separatism,  Congregationalism,  Anti-pedobaptism  and 
Quakerism,  all  of  which  embodied  ideas  that  were  new 
in  England  but  old  in  Holland,  all  had  their  inception 


72  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

in  Southeastern  England  in  the  very  regions  where  the 
Dutch  tradesmen  and  religious  refugees  were  most 
numerous,  we  can  not  escape  the  conviction  that  these 
great  religious  movements  owed  their  rise  at  least  in 
part  to  the  influence  of  the  Dutch  Anabaptists. 

The  hot-bed  of  Separatism  was  Norwich,  half  of 
whose  population  it  is  said  was  composed  of  Dutch 
refugees,  and  the  surrounding  region.  Among  the 
earliest  of  the  English  Separatists  was  Robert  Brown, 
the  "father  of  English  Congregationalism,"  who  in 
1580  established  an  independent,  though  not  an  Ana- 
baptist congregation  in  Norwich.  Driven  from  Eng- 
land he  sought  refuge  in  Middleburg,  Zealand.  Here 
was  located  a  Mennonite  congregation.  It  is  said  that 
a  part  of  ^Brown's  church  united  with  that  body 
although  he  himself  returned  to  England  and  re- 
entered the  established  church. 

Another  Separatist  congregation  was  organized 
about  1602  at  Gainsborough  by  one  John  Smyth. 
This  church  embraced  a  number  of  men  who  later 
became  famous  in  English  and  American  histoiy.  It 
contained  Helwys  and  Murton,  who  with  Smyth  be- 
came the  founders  of  the  General  Baptist  church ;  John 
Robinson,  the  Father  of  the  Pilgrims,  the  pastor  of  the 
small  flock  which  left  Leyden  in  1620  to  become  the 
founders  of  the  Plymouth  plantation;  William  Brew- 
ster and  William  Bradford,  two  of  the  leading  spirits 
of  the  first  New  England  colony. 

Smyth,  together  with  Helwys  and  Murton,  and  a 
part  of  the  congregation  were  driven  out  of  England. 
They  finally  established  themselves  at  Amsterdam. 
Heretofore  Smyth  had  been  a  Separatist  but  not  an 
Anabaptist,  but  now  he  went  a  step  farther.    Desiring 


MENNO  SIMONS  AND  THE  MENNONITES      IZ 

to  receive  believers'  baptism,  but  not  considering  any 
of  the  churches  then  existing  as  true  churches,  he  first 
baptized  himself,  and  then  the  rest  of  his  congregation. 
Later  he  became  involved  in  a  difficulty  with  Helwys 
and  Murton,  who  withdrew  from  him.     Smyth  then, 
together  with  thirty-one  others  applied  for  member- 
ship  in   the  Mennonite   church   at  Amsterdam.     His 
explanation   for   not  .joining   the    Mennonites   earlier 
was  that  he  then  thought  there  was  no  church  with 
whom  he  could  join  with  a  good  conscience,  but  since 
then  he  had  discovered  that  the  Mennonite  churches 
were  "true  churches"  and  had  "true  ministers."  Smyth 
died  before  he  could  be  received  by  the  Mennonites 
but   his   followers   became   a   part  of  the   Mennonite 
congregation.     Some  of  these  together  with  the  fol- 
followers  of  Helwys   and    Murton   later  returned   to 
England,    and    there    established    the    first    General 
Baptist   church   in   England.        Thus   the   Mennonite 
■church  may  be  considered  the  mother  of  the  modern 
Baptist    denomination.        The    English    church    soon 
introduced  immersion  and  discarded  the  doctrine  of 
non-resistance. 

The   Quakers,   too,   owe   something  to   the  Ana- 
baptists.    George  Fox  traveled  extensively  through- 
out Southeastern  England  and  preached 
Relation  to      in     Baptist     churches.       The     close     re- 
Quakers  semblance    in    almost    every    detail    of 
religious  belief  between  the  Quakers  and 
Mennonites  makes  it  impossible  to  believe'that  it  was 
not  the  result  of  a  close  connection  between  the  two 
denominations.     Robert   Barclay,   himself  a   Quaker, 
and  the  best  authority  on  this  subject  says  in  speaking 
of  the  doctrines  of  the  Mennonites: 


74  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

So  closely  do  these  views  correspond  with  those  of 
George  Fox,  that  we  are  compelled  to  view  him  as  the  un- 
conscious exponent  of  the  doctrine,  practice,  and  discipline  of 
the  ancient  and  strict  party  of  the  Dutch  Mennonites,  at  a 
period  when,  under  the  pressure  of  the  times,  some  deviation 
took  place  among  the  General  Baptists  from  their  original 
principles. 

The  visit  of  Fox,  Penn,  and  Caton,  to  the  Menno- 
nites in  Holland  and  Germany  is  told  in  another 
chapter. 

The  Mennonites  in  Switzerland 

The  term  Mennonite  also  came  to  be  applied  to 
the  Swiss  Anabaptists,  although  it  was  not  so 
generally  used  as  in  the  Netherlands  where  Menno's 
influence  was  more  direct  and  potent.  Here  they  were 
usually  called  Taufer  or  Wiedertaufer,  or  sometimes 
Taufgesinnte,  which  terms  were  also  common  in  the 
German  states  where  Anabaptists  were  found.  All 
these  people,  however,  formed  one  body  of  believers 
with  the  Anabaptists  or  Doopsgezinde  of  the  Nether- 
lands, and  delegates  from  these  various  countries  often 
met  in  Conferences  where  questions  of  common  church 
polity  and  usage  were  discussed. 

The  story  of  the  Swiss,  like  that  of  their  Dutch 
brethren,  is  largely  a  recital  of  cruel  persecution  on 
the  one  hand,  and  patient  suffering  on  the  other.  In  the 
cantons  of  Berne  and  Zurich,  which  were  the  principal 
Anabaptist  strongholds,  persecution  was  even  more 
severe  and  lasted  longer  than  in  the  Netherlands. 
While  in  the  latter  country  the  chief  oppressors  were 
at  first  the  Spanish  Catholics,  in  the  former  they  were 
the  Zwinglians  and   Lutherans.     Even  the  peace  of 


MENNO  SIMONS  AND  THE  MENNONITES      75 

Westphalia  in  1648,  which  is  spoken  of  as  the  end  of 
the  religious  quarrels  of  Europe,  failed  to  bring  rest 
to  the  Mennonites.  The  cause  of  this  hostility  on. 
the  part  of  the  established  church  was  largely  the 
attitude  of  the  Mennonites  toward  a  state  church  and 
their  non-participation  in  civil  government.  They 
taught  that  state  and  church  must  be  independent  of 
each  other,  and  refused  to  bear  arms,  take  the  oath 
and  hold  office.  Misunderstood  on  these  questions 
they  were  considered  dangerous  to  both  the  state  and 
church  and  were  hounded  to  death  by  both.  At  first 
they  were  hunted  like  wild  beasts,  burned  at  the  stake,, 
drowned  in  the  rivers,  or  left  to  rot  in  filthy  prisons. 
As  the  spirit  of  the  times  became  more  humane  during 
the  seventeenth  century  they  were  exiled  from  the 
country,  sent  to  the  galleys  and  their  property  was 
confiscated.  In  the  eighteenth  century  they  were 
punished  with  a  money  fine  and  denied  many  of  the 
rights  of  citizenship. 

The  masses  of  the  people  were  often  in  sympathy 
with  the  persecuted  and  often  the  same  decree  which 
pronounced  death  or  banishment  upon  the  Anabaptists 
provided  also  for  a  money  fine  against  those  who  gave 
them  aid.  A  decree  of  1580  declared  that  any  aid  given 
them  would  result  in  a  fine  or  exile  for  one  year.  In 
1643,  a  year  of  severe  oppression,  many  were  exiled  and 
an  amount  equal  to  eigthy  thousand  dollars  was  col- 
lected in  fines.  All  through  the  seventeenth  century 
they  emigrated  to  other  lands,  principally  to  Holland, 
the  Palatinate  and  Alsace.  In  1671  seven  hundred 
Bernese  came  to  the  Palatinate  whither  they  had  been 
invited,  by  the  Count  Palatine  to  settle  upon  his  waste 
lands.    In  1709  many  were  sent  to  the  galleys.    In  1711 


76  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

one  hundred  families  came  to  Holland  and  established 
their  own  congregations  there.  The  experiences  of  the 
Swiss  in  the  early  eighteenth  century  and  the  help 
they  received  from  the  Dutch  is  told  more  fully  else- 
where in  this  volume  and  need  not  be  repeated  here. 
Through  these  measures  the  Mennonites  of  Switzer- 
land were  nearly  all  banished,  sold  as  slaves  and  forced 
back  into  the  state  church,  or  had  voluntarily  emi- 
grated to  other  more  tolerant  lands.  By  the  nineteenth 
century  the  congregations  were  small  and  few. 

The  Palatinate 

The  Mennonites  in  the  Palatinate  experienced  the 
same  fate  as  did  their  brethren  in  other  parts  of  Europe 
during  the  latter  half  of  the  sixteenth  and  the  first  half 
of  the  seventeenth  centuries.  The  established  church 
tried  to  turn  them  from  their  faith  and  when  un- 
successful it  persuaded  the  government  to  lock  them^ 
up  in  prisons  or  put  them  to  death.  In  1571  the  Count 
Palatine  himself  presided  over  a  public  disputation 
with  the  Mennonites  at  Frankenthal  which  lasted  for 
nineteen  days.  Of  the  thirteen  questions  which  were 
discussed  the  following  are  the  most  significant: 

I.  Did  the  flesh  of  Christ  receive  its  substance 
from  the  flesh  of  the  Virgin  Mary? 

II.  Are  children  born  in  sin? 

III.  Does  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  sufBce  for  salva- 
tion, or  are  the  cross  and  good  works  essential? 

IV.  Will  the  body  be  resurrected  at  the  Judgment 
Day? 

V.  Can  the  individual  Christian  own  property? 

VI.  Is  the  Christian  permitted  to  be  magistrate 
and  may  he  use  the  sword? 


MENNO' SIMONS  AND  THE  MENNONITES      17 

VII.  Is  the  Christian  allowed  to  take  the  oath? 

VIII.  Must  children  be  baptized? 

IX.  Is  the  communion  only  a  symbol  and  a  token 
of  remembrance? 

These  questions  it  is  observed  strike  at  the  root  of 
the  beliefs  which  differentiated  the  Anabaptists  from 
the  Lutherans  and  Zwinglians.  Many  such  disputa- 
tions were  held  but  always  without  result.  The 
Mennonites  were  only  confirmed  more  strongly  than 
ever  in  their  faith,  and  the  established  church  con- 
tinued its  persecutions  until  far  into  the  seventeenth 
century.  By  the  close  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War  the 
Count  Palatine,  Karl  Ludwig,  wishing  to  build  up  the 
lands  laid  waste  by  the  war  granted  the  Mennonites 
religious  toleration  and  invited  their  persecuted 
brethren  in  Switzerland  to  join  them.  As  we  have 
already  seen,  a  number  of  the  Swiss  accepted  this- 
invitation  in  1660  and  again  in  1671.  But  here  again 
they  enjoyed  a  mere  breathing  spell  of  libert3^  During 
the  many  wars  fought  between  the  French  and  Ger- 
mans in  the  time  of  Louis  XIV,  the  Palatinate  was 
made  the  battle  field  of  the  struggle.  Several  hundred 
Mennonite  families  were  driven  out  of  the  country  by 
the  French  and  German  armies.  Many  of  these  fled  to 
the  lowlands  of  the  Rhine  where  they  would  hardly 
have  been  able  to  eke  out  an  existence  had  not  their 
brethren  in  the  Netherlands  again  come  to  their  rescue 
with  money,  food  and  clothing.  Others  of  the  Palat- 
ines, as  we  have  seen  elsewhere,  found  their  way  to 
America.  The  churches  in  Amsterdam  and  other 
cities  in  the  Netherlands  supported  an  organization^ 
the  purpose  of  which  was  to  help  them  find  new  homes. 


78  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

across  the  Atlantic.    By  1732  over  three  thousand  had 
arrived  at  Rotterdam  from  the  Palatinate. 

During  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century 
they  were  oppressed  by  special  head  tax,  inheritance 
tax,  banishment,  confiscation  of  property  and  were 
denied  the  freedom  of  worship.  As  a  result  the  stream 
of  emigration  into  Pennsylvania  continued  throughout 
this  period. 

The  Church  in  Prussia  and  Northern  Germany 

Before  the  time  of  Menno  Simons  many  Ana- 
baptists were  found  in  what  is  now  Prussia  and  other 
parts  of  Lower  Germany,  and  after  his  time  Mennonite 
churches  were  found  in  most  of  the  leading  cities. 
Menno  himself  traveled  for  several  years  through  this 
region  and  visited  the  Anabaptist  congregations.  His 
friend,  Dirck  Philip,  became  the  first  elder  of  the  large 
Mennonite  church  at  Danzig.  Among  the  earliest  and 
most  influential  congregations  in  this  region  were 
those  in  Danzig,  Thorn,  Marienburg,  Elbing,  Fried- 
rich  stadt,  Hamburg,  Altona,  Konigsberg  and  Crefeld. 
The  Mennonites  here  were  in  close  touch  with  those  of 
the  Netherlands  and  enjoyed  greater  freedom  than 
their  brethren  farther  south.  As  early  as  1585  they 
were  granted  the  rights  of  citizenship.  Instead  of  the 
oath  they  were  permitted  the  use  of  the  "yea  and  nay." 
Both  Prussia  and  Poland  invited  the  persecuted  from 
other  countries  to  settle  on  the  marshes  and  waste 
lands  of  the  Low  Countries.  During  the  17th  century 
they  were  granted  additipnal  privileges.  In  1660  the 
Danzig  church  was  allowed  to  erect  a  building  for 
worship.  Of  course,  complete  religious  freedom  was 
not  yet  offered  them.    In  times  of  war  they  were  often 


MENNO  SIMONS  AND  THE  MENNONITES      79 

obliged  to  serve  in  the  armies  or  find  substitutes  Their 
attitude  toward  the  state  church  and  their  non-re- 
sistant principles  were  always  regarded  with  suspicion 
by  the  Lutherans.  By  1710  Frederick,  influenced 
partly  by  the  States  General  of  the  Netherlands  in- 
vited the  Swiss  Mennonites  to  settle  upon  some  of  his 
unoccupied  lands.  Numbers  of  the  Swiss  as  we  have 
already  seen  accepted  the  invitation.  These  were 
granted  religious  toleration  and  freedom  from  military 
service.  -^ 

Under  Frederick  William  they  were  ordered  to 
eave  Prussian  soil.  This  was  due  to  Frederick's  dis- 
like of  them  because  they  dared  to  oppose  him  in  his 
attempt  to  secure  six  of  their  promising  young  men 
for  his  famous  Potsdam  body  guard.  Few  of  them 
however,  left  the  country  because  of  the  order.  Under 
Frederick  the  Great  they  were  again  granted  freedom 
of  worship.  As  a  result  of  these  liberal  policies  they 
grew  steadily  in  numbers  until  by  17/2  there  were 
about  thirteen  thousand  in  Prussia. 

^       The   next  year   they  gained   from   the   king  the 
lollowing  privileges: 

I      Full  freedom  of  worship  in  accordance  with 
the  Mennonite  confession  of  faith. 

II.  The  privilege  of  building  suitable  structures 
tor  worship. 

III.  The  right  to  teach  their  children  in  their  own 
schools. 

IV.  Freedom  from  military  service. 

y.    The  privilege  of  discarding  the  oath  and  using 
the    yea  and  nay"  instead. 

VI.     The  privilege  of  engaging  in  any  industry 


80  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

open  to  their  countrymen  and  the  right  of  buying  and 
selling,  and  holding  property. 

These  privileges  were  confirmed  by  Frederick  in 
1780  on  the  condition  that  they  pay  yearly  into  the 
king's  treasury  the  sum  of  five  thousand  dollars.  This 
sum  was  to  go  to  the  support  of  a  military  academy^ 
but  the  Mennonites  were  free  from  military  service. 

Such  freedom,  however,  could  not  last.  Under 
other  kings  and  in  times  of  war  it  was  not  an  easy 
matter  to  maintain  the  non-resistant  faith.  A  few 
years  later,  these  privileges  were  somewhat  restricted 
and  several  thousand  families  emigrated  to  Russia 
where  in  turn  they  had  been  promised  freedom  from 
military  service. 

The  story  of  the  later  Prussian,  as  well  as  of 
other  European  Mennonites,  is  omitted  here  since  it  is 
the  province  of  this  chapter  merely  to  furnish  a  back- 
ground for  the  history  of  the  church  in  America. 

Bibliography.— Complete  Works  of  Menno  Simons,  (Elkhart,  Indi- 
ana, Edition,  1871);  A.  H.  Newman,  History  of  Anti-pedobaptism ;  T.  J. 
van' Bracht,  Martyrs'  Mirror;  Dirck  Philip,  Enchiridion;  A.  M.  Cramer, 
Het  Leven  en  de  Verrigtingen  van  Menno  Simons;  B.  K.  Roosen,  Menno 
Simons;  Anna  Brons,  Ursprung,  Entwickelung,  und  Schicksale  der 
Taufgesinnten  oder  Mennoniten ;  Ernest  Miiller,  Geschichte  der  Bernischen 
Taufer. 


CHAPTER  III 

PLOCKHOY  AND  THE  MENNONITE  COLONY 
ON  THE  DELAWARE 

Just  when  the  first  Mennonites  came  to  the  New 
World  is  not  definitely  known,  but  it  is  likely  that  a 
few  individuals  settled  in  what  is  now 
Mennonites  in       NeW  York  and  Delaware  soon  after 
Manhattan  the    first    permanent    English    settle- 

ments were  made  along  the  Atlantic 
coast.  Frequent  references  are  made  in  the  colonial 
records  of  New  York  to  Dutch  Anabaptists  in  New 
Netherlands  soon  after  the  Dutch  gained  a  foothold  on 
American  soil.  Some  of  these  Anabaptists  no  doubt 
were  Mennonites.  The  first  printed  mention  of  the 
latter  by  name  is  found  in  a  report  on  the  religious 
conditions  in  New  Netherlands,  made  by  a  French 
Jesuit,  Father  Jogues,  who  had  visited  this  region  in 
1643.  In  a  letter  written  the  following  year  he  says 
regarding  the  religious  affairs  in  "Manhate"^  island, 

No  religion  is  publically  exercised  but  the  Calvinist,  and 
orders  are  to  admit  none  but  Calvinists,  but  this  is  not 
observed.     For   there   are   besides   Calvinists   in   the   colony, 


1.     Manhattan  Island. 


82  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

Catholics,  English  Puritans,  Lutherans  and  Anabaptists,  here 
called  Menists.2 

The  next  reference  so  far  as  I  have  been  able 
to  discover  in  the  same  documents  is 

Long  Island  in  a  report  made  in  1657  to  Amsterdam 
regarding  the  early  settlements  on  Long 

Island.    The  report  says, 

Those  at  Gravesend  are  reported  ]\Ienonists;  yea  they  for  the 
most  part  reject  infant  baptism,  the  sabbath,  the  office  of 
preacher  and  teacher  of  God's  Word,  saying  that  through 
these  come  all  sorts  of  contention  into  the  world,  whenever 
they  meet  together  the  one  or  the  other  reads  something 
for  them. 2 

This  description  does  not  fit  the  orthodox 
Mennonite  of  either  that  day  or  this  day.  Two  explana- 
tions may  be  suggested  to  harmonize  the  seeming 
contradictory  account.  It  is  barely  possible  that  the 
writer,  who  was  a  Dutchman  and  thus  was  acquainted 
with  the  Dutch  Mennonites  but  perhaps  knew  nothing 
about  the  English  Quakers  confused  the  two  and  thus 
considered  these  people  Mennonites  when  in  reality 
they  may  have  been  Quakers.  Their  practices  seem  to 
have  been  nearer  those  of  the  Quakers  than  of  the  main 
body  of  Mennonites,  and  we  know  that  soon  after  this 
Gravesend  became  a  Quaker  settlement.*  On  the  other 
hand  we  must  remember  that  at  this  time  there  were 
several  sects  of  Mennonites,  some  of  which  differed 
very  little  in  their  religious  practices  from  the  early 
settlers  at  Gravesend.  If  these  people  were  Mennonites 


2.  O'Callahan,  E.  B.,  Documentary  History  of  New  York,  IV.  p.  15. 

3.  Ibid,  III.  p.  69. 

4.  In  1657.     See  A.   P.   Stockwell,  Histroy  of   Gravesend. 


MENNONITE  COLONY  OX  THE  DELAWARE    83 

as  the  report  says  they  were,  then  perhaps  they  be- 
longed to  the  sect  of  Collegiants,  who  had  their  origin 
in  Rhynsburg  in  1619  and  who  like  the  Quakers  did 
not  believe  in  a  regular  preacher.^ 

The  first  settlement  in  America  of  which  we 
have  anything  like  definite  knowledge  is  that  made 
by  Plockhoy  and  his  small  colony  on  the 
Horekill       Horekill  in  what  is  now  Southwestern  Dela- 
ware. Cornelisz  Pieter  Plockhoy  of  Zeirik 
Zee  was  a  liberal-minded  Dutch  communist  and  social 
reformer  of  his  day.     He  was  of  Mennonite  descent 
and   was   perhaps   himself  a   member  of  one   of   the 
several  sects  of  that  faith.     Of  his  early  life  we  know 
little,  but  by  1658  we  find  him.  in  London 
Plockhoy  in      addressing    a    letter    to    Cromwell    in 
England  which  he  laid  before  the  Lord  Protector 

a  scheme  for  the  social  and  political 
reorganization  of  English  society.^  England  it  will 
be  remembered  was  at  this-  time  under  the  Common- 
wealth government,  and  at  no  period  of  her  history 
has  there  been  a  greater  diversity  of  opinion  among 
Englishmen  on  social,  religious,  and  political  questions 
than  just  at  this  time.  Plockhoy  therefore  was  only 
one  of  many  who  felt  that  they  had  a  remedy  for  the 
ills  of  society. 

In  the  mean  time,  however,  Cromwell  had  died 


For  a  good  description  of  the  Collegiants  see  Robert  Barclay,  "The 
Inner  Life  of  the  Religious  Societies  of  the  Commonwealth."    p.  90. 

For  the  facts  regarding  this  part  of  Plockhoy's  life  I  am  indebted  to  a 
chapter  headed  "Plockhoys  Social  Planen"  in  a  book  Called 
"Beelden  en  Groepen  Studien"  written  by  H.  P.  G.  Quack.  an4 
published  in  Amsterdam,  1892  by  P.  N.  van  Kampen  and  Zoon. 


84  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

before  Plockhoy's  letter  had  reached  him,  whereupon 
the  latter  prepared  a  memorial  to 
His   Communistic      Parliament,  which  together  with  his 
Schemes  earlier    letter    and    a    pamphlet,    in 

which  he  outlined  his  plans  for  re- 
form, he  sent  to  that  body  in  1659.  In  his  first  letter 
his  chief  ambition  seemed  to  be  to  harmonize  the 
religious  dissensions  then  prevalent  in  the  Christian 
•church.  After  calling  attention  to  the  numerous  sects 
he  outlines  his  plan  for  bringing  all  these  sects  to- 
.gether.  He  suggests  that  Cromwell  establish  as  an 
•experiment  a  common  church  in  which  all  are  to 
worship.  Religious  worship,  however,  is  to  be  volun- 
tary. Church  and  State  are  to  be  entirely  separated 
and  there  is  to  be  no  tithing  for  the  support  of  a 
regular  ministry.  During  the  year,  however,  Plock- 
lioy's  ideas  seem  to  have  enlarged,  for  in  the  above 
mentioned  pamphlet  he  includes  in  his  communistic 
plans  a  scheme  for  the  alleviation  of  the  poor.  The 
title  page  contains  an  epitome  of  his  program  and 
reads  as  follows : 

A  way  propounded  to  make  the  poor  in  these  and  other 
Nations  happy  by  bringing  together  a  fit,  suitable  and  well 
qualified  people  into  one  Household-government  or  little 
Commonwealth,  wherein  every  one  may  keep  his  property 
and  be  employed  in  some  work  or  other  as  he  shall  be  fit, 
without  being  oppressed.  Being  the  way  not  only  to  rid 
these  and  other  Nations  from  idle,  evil  and  disorderly 
persons,  but  also  from  all  such  as  have  sought  and  found  out 
many  inventions  to  live  upon  others.  Whereunto  is  also 
annexed  an  invitation  to  this  society  or  little  Commonwealth. 
Psalm  42:1.  Blessed  is  he  that  considereth  the  poor  etc. — By 
Cornelison  van  Zierik  Zee,  London.     Printed  for  the  author 


MENNONITE  COLONY  ON  THE  DELAWARE    85 

and  sold  at  Black  Spread  Eagle  near  the  West  end  of  Pauls, 
1659.7 

This  scheme  it  is  seen,  although  co-operative,  was 
not  entirely  communistic,  for  those  who  entered  the 
society  were  not  bound  to  hold  their  property  in 
common.  The  little  trial  commonwealth  which  Plock- 
hoy  hoped  to  establish  was  to  be  composed  of  four 
classes  of  men — husbandmen,  handicraftsmen,  marin- 
ers and  masters  of  arts  and  sciences.  Until  the  society 
became  firmly  established  unmarried  men  were  to  be 
preferred.  All  were  to  live  together  in  houses  large 
jenough  to  accommodate  twenty  or  thirty  families. 

Simplicity  and  economy  were  to  be  practiced  in 
every  detail  of  daily  living.  The  women  were  to  make 
their  own  apparel  without  unnecessary  trimming. 

Apparel  should  be  fitted  for  the  body  and  convenient 
for  the  work,  without  being  dyed  to  the  fashions,  colors  or 
stuffs,  only  the  unnecessary  trimmings  to  be  forborn  that 
'God's  creatures  which  He  hath  made  be  not  misused. 

Education  was  to  be  provided  for  all. 

In  religion  the  same  spirit  of  equality  and  har- 
mony was  to  be  encouraged  as  in  other  interests  of 
life.  There  was  to  be  one  large  hall  for  religious 
purposes.  All  sects  were  to  be  given  freedom  of 
worship  but  were  encouraged  to  worship  together. 
During  religious  service  the  Holy  Scriptures  were  to 
be  read  and  then  each  member  of  the  congregation 
was  to  be  free  to  express  his  own  opinions  on  the 
passages  read. 

In  spiritual  things  we  acknowledge  none  but  Christ  for 
head  and  master,  who  of  old  hath  appointed  in  his  church, 
apostles,   prophets,   evangelists,  pastors   and   teachers,   these 


This  pamphlet  is  now  very  rare.  There  is  a  copy  in  the  New  York 
city  public  library,  perhaps  the  only  copy  in  America.  The  Britith 
Museum  also  contains  a  copy. 


86  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

having  through  the  spirit  of  God  brought  forth  and  left 
behind  them  the  writings  in  the  New  Testament,  we  own  for 
ambassadors  and  their  words  (without  any  interpretation 
from  men)  for  our  rule  and  plummet,  keeping  in  remem- 
brance when  we  meet  together  that  we  must  allow  that 
liberty  of  speaking  to  others  which  we  desire  ourselves,  with- 
out tying  anyone  to  our  opinion,  maintaining  a  firm  friend- 
ship with  such  who  have  renounced  all  unreasonable  things 
contrary  to  Scripture,  without  stumbling  at  any  differences, 

which  do  not  hinder  love  and  piety We  intend  that 

we  may  bring  the  good  people  of  all  sects  to  unity,  setting 
our  meeting  place  open  to  all  rational  men. 

This  in  brief  was  to  be  the  plan  of  government  for 
a  community  which  Plockhoy  hoped  with  the  aid  of 
Parliament  to  establish  somewhere  in  England. 

At  the  end  of  the  pamphlet  was  inserted  an  in- 
vitation to  all  the  poor  and  needy  and  others  interested 
in  forming  such  an  association  to  co-operate  with 
Plockhoy.  His  plan  was  to  found  the  association  in 
London.  But  later  Bristol,  and  finally  Ireland  was 
•chosen  as  the  place  where  the  experiment  was  to  be 
tried.  We  do  not  find,  however,  that  the  scheme  ever 
materialized.  Parliament,  whose  aid  he  sought,  had 
far  more  important  work  in  hand  at  this  time,  and 
Plockhoy  soon  left  London  again  for  Amsterdam, 
where  he  continued  his  efforts  to  secure  help  for 
putting  his  theories  into  practice.  Here  he  was  finally 
successful.  The  city  of  Amsterdam,  being  anxious  at 
this  time  to  secure  colonists  for  her  newly  acquired 
territory  along  the  Delaware  river,  promised  Plockhoy 
financial  aid  and  the  privilege  of  establishing  a  colony 
of  Mennonites  on  the  Horekill. 

The  Horekill  is  the  name  of  a  small  stream  flowing 
into  the  Delaware  Bay  near  its  southern  extremity  in 
what  was  then  New  Netherlands,  but  now  the  state 


MENNONITE  COLONY  ON  THE  DELAWARE    87 

of  Delaware.^  The  term  which  originated  from  the 
name  Hoorn,  a  town  in  Holland,  was  applied  not  only 
to  the  stream  but  the  entire  surrounding  region  which 
was  also  sometimes  called  Swaanendael.  The  settle- 
ment at  this  place  was  one  of  the  earliest  made  by  the 
Dutch,  south  of  Manhattan  Island. 

The  first  settlement  in  this  region  was  made  in 
1631  by  DeVries,  a  Dutch  explorer,  who  built  a  fort 
called  Oplandt  near  the  stream.^  The  colony  was  soon 
destroyed,  however,  by  Indians.  Later  unsuccessful 
attempts  at  colonization  were  also  made  by  the  West 
India  Company  and  the  city  of  Amsterdam  to  which 
city  the  region  had  finally  been  sold.  Amsterdam  made 
repeated  efforts  to  populate  her  new  colony.  In  1656 
three  hundred  Waldenses  had  been  sent  over.  In- 
vitations were  also  sent  to  other  persecuted  sects  of 
Europe  to  settle  in  the  New  World.  It  was  no  doubt 
this  eagerness  for  colonists  that  made  it  possible  for 
Plockhoy  to  get  financial  aid  and  permission  from  the 
burgomasters  of  Amsterdam  to  establish  here  a  colony 
of  Mennonites,  based  on  his  plan  of  social,  political  and 
economic  equality. 


This  region   is   described   in  a   report   sent   to   Amsterdam   in   16S7   by 
Alrichs  to  the  Commissioners  of  the  colony  on  the  Delaware. 

"I  have  already  stated  that  there  is  a  very  fine  country  called 
the  Whorekill  abounding  very  much  in  wild  animals,  birds,  fish,  etc. 
And  the  land  is  so  good  and  fertile  that  the  like  is  nowhere  to  be 
found.  It  lies  at  the  entrance  of  the  Bay  about  two  leagues  up  from 
Cape  Hinlopen.  I  shall  send  a  draft  of  it  by  the  next  opportunity. 
Please  to  keep  it  recommended.  The  place  can  be  visited  by  a  yacht 
of  eight  or  ten  lasts  but  some  people  must  be  there  for  security. 
This  can  be  regularly  done  after  numbers  are  sent  and  have  arrived 
here  and  more  of  the  place  is  taken  up." — O'Callahan,  Documentary 
History  of  New   York,   II.  p.    19. 

See    Benjamin    Ferris,    Original    Settlements   on   the    Delaware,    p.    22, 
and  Francis  Vincent,  History  of  Delaware,  p.  130. 


«8  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

On  June  9,  1662,  the  burgomasters  of  Amster- 
dam made  a  contract  with  Plockhoy  and  twenty-four 
others,    called    Mennonites,    regarding 
Contract  with       the  conveyance  of  the  proposed  colony 
Amsterdam  to  the  Delaware.^"    According  to  this 

contract  the  city  was  to  advance  two 
hundred  guilders  to  each  of  the  twenty-five  families 
making  up  the  association.  For  the  repayment  of 
these  loans  the  whole  body  was  to  be  responsible.  A 
tract  of  land  was  granted  the  colony  on  the  Horekill 
which  was  to  be  free  from  taxes  for  twenty  years.  The 
society  was  authorized  to  make  such  laws  and  rules  as 
were  necessary  for  the  government  of  the  settlement, 
allowing  to  each  member  the  right  of  appeal  to  the 
city  authorities  in  case  he  felt  himself  unjustly  treated. 
Such  laws  and  rules,  however,  were  not  to  be  in  con- 
tradiction to  the  fundamental  conditions  which  the 
city  had  published  in  1656. 

In  the  meantime  Plockhoy,  in  1662,  had  again 
published  a  pamphlet  called,  "Kort  en  Klaer  Ont- 
werp"^^  in  which  he  outlined  in  detail  the  communistic 
scheme  by  which  the  proposed  colony  was  to  be 
governed,  and  in  which  he  invited  associates  to  join  the 
new  enterprise.  The  following  September  was  the 
date  set  for  the  departure  of  the  company. 

Many  of  these  regulations  for  the  proposed  com- 


10.  O'Callahan,   Documentary  History  of  New  York,   II.   p.   176. 

11.  This  is  also  a  very  rare  book.     S.  W.  Pennypacker  has  a  copy  in  his 

private  library.  There  is  also  a  copy  in  the  library  of  the  New  York 
Historical  Society.  See  Collections  of  New  York  Historical  Society, 
Second  Series,  Vol.  Ill,  part  I,  footnote  page  291.  A  brief  analysis 
of  the  book  with  something  of  its  history  can  be  found  in  H.  C. 
Murphy's  Anthology  of  New  Netherland  and  also  in  G.  M.  Asher's 
Historical   Essay  on  Dutch   Books  and   Pamphlets  relating  to   New 


MENNONITE  COLONY  ON  THE  DELAWARE  89 

munity  were  similar  to  those  suggested  in  London  in 
1658.  The  colony  was  to  comprise 
Regulations  for  four  clas-ses  of  people — agricultur- 
Proposed  Colony  ists,  seafaring  persons,  all  necessary 
trades  people,  and  masters  of  useful 
arts  and  sciences.  The  associates  were  to  be  either 
married  males,  or  single  men  twenty-four  years  old 
who  were  free  from  debt.  Each  was  to  obey  the 
ordinances  of  the  society  and  not  seek  his  own  ad- 
vancement over  any  other  member.  The  colony 
evidently  was  not  to  be  exclusively  a  Mennonite  one, 
since  as  in  the  earlier  scheme  all  Christian  sects  who 
composed  the  community  were  to  be  united.  This 
was  to  be  accomplished  partly  by  the  exclusion  of  all 
clergymen  from  the  settlement,  since  it  would  be  im- 
possible to  gain  the  desired  harmony,  either  by  electing 
a  clergyman  for  each  sect  or  by  selecting  him  from  any 
one  sect.  Preachers,  furthermore,  according  to  Plock- 
hoy,  were  not  necessary  for  religious  instruction  and 
worship.  The  colonists  were  themselves  provided 
with  the  Holy  Scriptures  which  all  ministers  agreed  in 
pronouncing  the  best,  and  which  they  looked  upon  as 
"the  most  peaceable  and  economical  of  all  preachers," 
Religious  exercises  were  to  be  as  simple  as  possible. 
Every  Sunday  and  holiday  the  people  were  to  assemble 
in  the  common  meeting  house.  Here  the  services  were 
to  be  opened  by  the  singing  of  a  psalm  and  the  reading 
of  a  chapter  from  the  Bible  by  one  of  the  members. 
Any  one  present  was  to  be  at  liberty  to  express  his 
opinions  on  the  passage  of  Scripture  read.     Another 


Netherland.  For  a  further  discussion  of  Plockhoy's  scheme  for 
establishing  a  colony  on  the  Delaware  see  O'Callahan,  History  of 
New  Netherland ;  and  John  Romeyn  Brodhead,  History  of  New 
York.     Vol.   I.  p.  697. 


90  MENXONITES    OF    AMERICA 

psalm  closed  the  services,  and  immediately  after,  the 
court  was  to  convene  in  the  same  building  for  the' 
transaction  of  the  public  business  of  the  community. 
There  v^as  to  be  no  deviation  from  these  simple 
exercises,  for  even  the  Lord's  supper  and  baptism  were 
to  be  considered  as  "signs  or  ceremonies  becoming 
rather  weak  children  than  men  in  Christ." 

Public  schools  were  to  be  provided,  but  no  creeds 
nor  religious  formulas  except  the  Holy  Scriptures  were 
to  be  taught. 

Plockhoy  evidently  was  not  entirely  non-resistant, 
for  those  having  conscientious  scruples  against  bearing 
arms  were  to  pay  an  extra  tax  for  the  support  of  those 
who  entered  military  service.  Only  defensive  warfare, 
however,  was  to  be  waged. 

Slavery  was  to  be  prohibited. 

In  order  to  secure  perfect  harmony  within  the 
settlement  certain  classes  of  religious  sects  were  to 
be  excluded  from  the  Society, 

All  untractable  people,  such  as  those  in  communion  with  the 
Roman  see,  usurious  Jews;  English  stififnecked  Quakers; 
Puritans;  foolhardy  believers  in  the  Millennium;  and 
obstinate   modern  pretenders   to   revelation. 

Undesirable  persons  were  to  be  subject  to  expul- 
sion by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  the  entire  community. 

All  laws  and  regulations  for  the  governing  of  the 
colony  were  to  be  passed  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  the 
members,  but  were  to  be  subject  to  the  approval  of  the 
authorities  of  Amsterdam.  Each  year  ten  persons 
were  to  be  proposed  for  officers,  from  which  the 
burgomasters  of  Amsterdam  were  to  choose  five.  No 
magistrate  was  to  be  eligible  for  re-election  until  one 
year  after  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  office,  nor  was 


MENNONITE  COLONY  ON  THE  DELAWARE    91 

he  to  receive  any  compensation  for  his  services.  For 
the  first  year  the  oldest  member  was  to  preside  over 
the  court,  but  after  that,  the  one  longest  in  office. 

For  five  years  after  their  arrival  in  their  new  home 
the  colonists  were  to  labor  for  the  common  good  and 
live  from  a  common  store-house,  but  after  that  time 
the  property  might  be  divided  proportionally  among" 
the  heads  of  families. 

Such  in  outline  were  the  articles  of  association 
which  were  drawn  up  by  Plockhoy  for  the  government 
of  his  proposed  American  colony  of  Mennonites — a 
scheme  which  Brodhead  in  his  history  of  New  Nether- 
lands calls  "one  among  the  most  extraordinary  of  the 
memorials  of  American  colonization."^^ 

Of  the  actual  history  of  the  colony  we  have  little 
knowledge.  As  we  have  seen,  the  company  was  to 
leave  for  the  Horekill  by  September, 
Colony  on  1662.     But  we  do  not  know  whether 

the  Delaware  they  actually  set  sail  at  that  time.  It 
seems  probable,  however,  that  they  did 
not  start  on  their  voyage  until  the  following  spring,, 
for  from  a  letter  written  May  5,  1663,  we  learn  that 
Plockhoy  sailed  in  the  ship  St,  Jacob  for  the  Horekill,^* 
and  in  another  letter  dated  August  4,  1663/*  it  is  re- 
corded that  the  ship  St.  Jacob  arrived  at  the  Horekill 
on  July  28,  1663,  and  left  there  forty-one  souls  with 


12.  At  hrst  glance  these  regulations  may   seem   entirely  inconsistent  with 

the  doctrines  and  practices  of  the  main  body  of  the  Mennonites  of 
today.  But  as  suggested  in  an  earlier  portion  of  this  chapter,  there 
were  several  sects  of  the  denomination  in  the  Netherlands  during  the 
seventeenth  century  which  held  views  in  n>any  respects  similar  to 
these  set  forth  bj'   Plockhoy. 

13.  Fernow,   Documents  Relating  to  the  History  of  New   York,  XII.   p. 

429. 

14.  Ibid,  p.  437,  450. 


92  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

their  baggage  and  farm  utensils.  From  these  scraps 
of  information  it  would  seem  that  these  forty-one  souls 
comprised  the  twenty-five  families  who  contracted 
with  the  burgomasters  of  Amsterdam  to  settle  in  New 
Netherlands.  How  they  fared  during  the  autumn  and 
the  following  winter  we  do  not  know,  but  they  had 
hardly  begun  their  new  settlement  when  they  were 
unceremoniously  driven  out  of  the  region  by  the 
^English  who  were  now  at  war  with  the  Dutch  for  the 
possession  of  New  Netherlands.  In  1664,  all  the 
Dutch  settlements  along  the  Delaware,  including  the 
Mennonite  colony,  were  plundered  and  some  of  the 
inhabitants,  perhaps  principally  soldiers,  were  taken 
to  Virginia  where  according  to  Governor  Stuyvesant 
they  were  sold  as  indentured  servants. ^^  A  report  of 
the  affair  sent  to  Amsterdam  in  1684  says  that  during 
this  war  all  the  possessions  of  the  city  of  Amsterdam 
were  plundered  and  occupied  "as  also  what  belonged 
to  the  Quaking  Society  of  Plockhoy  to  a  very  naile."^* 
Of  the  ultimate  fate  of  these  Mennonites  we  are 
equally  ignorant.  Whether  they  later  built  up  their 
settlement  again  on  the  Horekill,  and  perhaps  lost  their 
Mennonite  faith;    whether  they  became  disheartened 


15.  "The  Dutch  soldiers  were  taken  prisoners  and  given  to  the  merchant- 

man that  was  there  in  payment  of  his  services,  and  they  were  trans- 
ported into  Virginia  to  be  sold. — All  sorts  of  tools  for  handicraft, 
tradesmen,  and  all  plow-gear  and  other  things  to  cultivate  the 
ground  which  were  in  store  in  great  quantity  were  likewise  seized, 
together  with  a  saw  mill  ready  to  set  up  and  nine  sea  buoys  with 
their  iron  chains.  Even  the  inoffensive  Mennonites,  though 
thoroughly  noncombatant  in  principle,  did  not  escape  the  sack  and 
plunder  to  which  the  whole  river  was  subjected  by  Carr  and  his 
co-marauders.  A  boat  was  dispatched  to  their  settlement  which  was 
stripped  of  everything  'to  a  naile.'  " — O'Callahan,  History  of  New- 
Netherlands,  II.  538.  See  also  Documentary  History  of  New  York, 
II.   346. 

16.  Documentary  History  of  New  York,  III.   356. 


MENNONITE  COLONY  ON  THE  DELAWARE    95 

and  returned  to  their  native  country ;  or  whether  like 
some  of  the  Dutch  soldiers  they  were  sold  as  servants 
in  Virginia  we  may  never  know.  Save  for  a  brief 
mention  made  of  Plockhoy  sometime  later  in  the  re- 
cords of  the  Germantown  court^^  these  few  facts  are  all 
that  have  thus  far  come  to  light  regarding  this,  one  of 
the  earliest  attempts  of  the  Mennonites  to  secure  a 
home  in  the  New  World.  One  day  in  1694  Plockhoy 
now  grown  old  and  blind,  accompanied  by  his  wife, 
evidently  friendless  and  penniless,  having  heard  some- 
how of  the  later  and  more  fortunate  settlement  made 
in  the  meantime  at  Germantown,  and  coming,  we  know 
not  whence,  wandered  into  the  village,  where  he  met 
a  hearty  welcome.  The  court  appointed  William' 
Rittenhouse  and  John  Doeden  to  select  a  suitable 
home  in  the  village  and  provide  for  the  needs  of  the 
aged  couple.  And  here  with  his  wife,  Pieter  Cornelisz 
Plockhoy,  the  dreamer  and  social  reformer,  and  so  far 
as  known,  the  only  survivor  in  America  of  the  ill- 
fated  colony  he  tried  to  establish,  after  a  long  life  of 
disappointments  and  vicissitudes,  finally  ended  his 
days  in  peace  among  his  brethren  and  countrymen. 


17.     The  Germantown  Rathbuch.     The  original  written  in  German  is  to  be 
found  in  the  library  of  the   Pennsylvania  State  Historical   Society. 


CHAPTER  IV 


GERMANTOWN    1683-1708 


The  first  permanent  Mennonite  settlement  in 
America   was    made    at    Germantown,    Pennsylvania. 

The  first  settlers  came  from  Holland  and 
Relation  of  Germany,  especially  from  the  Lower 
Mennonites  Rhine  region  along  the  borders  of  the  two 
to  Quakers        countries — principally    from    the    towns, 

Crefeld  and  Kriegsheim.  The  story  of 
the  early  Mennonites  in  America  is  so  closely  inter- 
twined with  that  of  the  Quakers  that  it  may  not  be  out 
of  place  here  to  speak  briefly  of  the  early  relation  of 
these  two  denominations  in  Europe.  Even  the  most 
casual  student  of  their  history  must  observe  that  they 
had  much  in  common  in  doctrine,  practice  and  spirit. 
As  already  indicated  it  is  even  suggested  by  some 
historians  that  Quakerism  may  owe  its  origin  to 
Mennonite  influence  from  Holland.^  The  opinion  of 
Robert  Barclay  on  this  subject  has  already  been  re- 
ferred to. 


1,     Barclay,   The   Inner   Life   of  the   Religious   Societies   of  the   Common- 
wealth,  p.   77. 


GERMANTOWN  95 

Whatever  their  origin  may  have  been,  the  English 
Quakers  very  early  in  their  history  crossed  Over  into 
Holland  and  Northwestern  Germany  for  the  purpose 
of  extending  their  faith.  They  were  wise  enough  to 
begin  their  work  wherfe  the  soil  had  already  been  well 
prepared  for  the  reception  of  the  Quaker  doctrines  of 
non-resistance,  non-swearing  of  oaths,  and  rejection  of 
infant  baptism.  And  so  we  find  their  first  evangelists 
almost  invariably  beginning  their  eiiforts  among  the 
Mennonites;  and  in  Mennonite  communities  they 
found  their  first  proselytes. 

One  of  the  first  of  the  Quakers  to  come  to  the  con- 
tinent was  William  Ames  who  visited  Holland  and  the 
Palatinate  as  early  as  1655.  Here  he  found  his  way  to 
many  of  the  Mennonite  strongholds.  In  company  with 
George  Rolfe  he  visited  Kriegsheim  in  1657  where  he 
gained  a  number  of  Mennonite  converts.^  And  it  is  a 
noteworthy  fact  that  at  a  later  time  the  entire  Quaker 
body  at  this  place  emigrated  to  Pennsylvania.^  Dur- 
ing the  same  year  Ames  won  for  his  faith  also  Judith 
Zinspenning,  of  Amsterdam,  who  had  been  a  member 
of  the  Flemish  Mennonite  church.  She  was  the  wife 
of  Jacob  Sewell,  also  a  Mennonite,  and  the  mother  of 
William  Sewell,  the  well  known  Quaker  historian.* 
Caton  who  labored  in  Holland  at  the  same  time,  says 
he  was  well  received  everywhere  by  the  Mennonites.' 
Stephen  Crisp,  another  zealous  Quaker,  made  a  number 
of  trips  to  Holland  and  Germany  between  1663  and 


2.  Pa.   Ger.   Soc,  IX.   170. 

3.  Sewell,  History  of  the  Quakers,  I.  260. 

4.  Ibid,  II.  120. 

5.  Barclay,   250. 


96  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

1684,  gained  a  few  proselytes,  visited  Hamburg,. 
Embden,  Friedrichstadt  and  Danzig,  and  set  up  a 
meeting  at  Crefeld.^  In  all  of  these  towns  the 
Mennonites  had  large  congregations. 

By  far  the  most  significant  missionary  tour,  how- 
ever, was  that  made  in  1677  by  a  number  of  the  Quaker 

leaders,  including  Robert  Barclay,. 
Penn  and  Fox  George  Keith,  Benjamin  Furley,. 
in  Germany  George  Fox  and  William  Penn.     On 

July  26,  this  party  landed  in  Briel,  a 
seaport  town  of  Holland.  From  here  they  went  to 
Leyden  accompanied  by  Jan  Roelof,  a  Quaker,  whose 
father,  Berend  Roelof,  had  been  a  Mennonite  preacher 
at  Hamburg,  and  thence  to  Haarlem,  where  they 
attended  a  meeting  consisting  of  Friends  and 
Mennonites.^  The  travelers  visited  all  the  places 
where  meetings  had  been  established  and  many  new 
towns  where  they  hoped  to  gain  new  proselytes.  The 
tour  included  Amsterdam,  Frankfort  on  the  Main,, 
where  Penn  met  a  number  of  Pietists  who  had  estab- 
lished a  society  in  that  city,  Kriegsheim,  Cologne,, 
Embden  and  many  other  cities.^  At  Amsterdam  Penn 
and  Fox  had  a  debate  with  the  celebrated  Mennonite 
preacher  Galenus  Abraham.  The  story  of  this  debate 
is  told  very  briefly  but  entertainingly  by  Sewell. 

Galenus  asserted  that  nobody  now-a-days  could  be- 
accepted  as  a  messenger  of  God  unless  he  confirmed  his 
doctrine  by  miracles.  Penn  denied  this  and  said  miracles- 
at  present  are  not  necessary.    Fox  then  also  spoke  something 


6.  Oswald  Seidensticker,  William  Penn's  Travels  in  Holland  and  Germany 

in  1677,  in  Pennsylvania  Magazine  of  History,  II.,  240. 

7.  Pa.  Mag.  of  History,  II.  250.  « 

8.  Sewell,   II.   268. 


GERMANTOWN  97 

to  the  matter;  but  he  being  somewhat  short  breathed,  went 
several  times  away  which  some  were  ready  to  impute  to  a 
passionate  temper  but  I  well  know  that  therein  they  wronged 
him.  This  dispute  was  a  troublesome  business,  for  the  parties 
on  both  sides  were  fain  to  speak  by  an  interpreter  which 
generally  was  performed  so  imperfectly  that  at  last  the 
conference  was  broke  off  without  coming  to  a  decision  al- 
though many  weighty  arguments  were  objected  against  the 
position. 9 

This  tour  of  Penn's  was  full  of  significance  for 
the  future  settlement  of  Pennsylvania.  To  be  sure,  at 
this  time  he  was  traveling  merely  in  the  interests  of 
the  Quaker  religion.  But  when  a  few  years  later  he 
was  granted  a  large  tract  of  land  in  the  new  world,  and 
when  he  sent  his  agents  to  the  continent  to  secure 
colonists,  many  of  these  persecuted  Quakers,  Mennon- 
ites.  Pietists,  and  other  sects  more  or  less  limited  in  • 
their  freedom  of  worship,  felt  a  personal  interest  in  the 
enterprise, 

Penn  was  by  no  means  the  last  of  Quaker  apostles 
to  visit  the  Mennonites.     At  Hamburg,  Amsterdam, 

Crefeld,  Kriegsheim,  Altona,  in  fact 
Later  Quakers  wherever  there  was  a  Mennonite  con- 
Among  the  gregation   the   Quakers  got   more   or 

Mennonites  less    of   a    footing.      The    Mennonites 

evidently  often  heard  the  Quaker 
preachers  gladly.  The  yearly  meeting  of  London  in 
1694  reported  from  Holland  that  at  Twist  and  Hoorne 

there  is  found  great  openness  and  tenderness  among  the 
people  who  desire  to  be  visited  and  salute  Friends  and  that 
in  some  places  is  found  good  openness  among  the  Mennists 
(or  Baptists)  to  hear  the  Friends  tell  the  truth.io 

9.  Ibid,  277. 

10.  Bealing,    Epistles   of   London   Yearly    Meeting.      Baltimore,    1806. 


98  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

In  1709  Chalkley  after  a  visit  to  Rotterdam,  Haarlem, 
Hamburg,  Embden  and  other  places  said, 

I  know  not  that  I  ever  met  with  more  tenderness  and  open- 
ness in  people  than  in  those  parts  of  the  world.  There  is  a 
great  people  there  whom  they  call  Menonists  who  are  very- 
near  the  truth  and  the  fields  are  white  unto  harvest  among 
divers   of   them   spiritually   speaking.^i 

In  1714  Story  reported  from  Holland  that  he  "met  with 
great  kindness  especially  from  a  sect  called  Minists 
who  in  many  respects  resemble  the  Friends."  These 
people  whenever  he  met  with  them  tendered  him  "the 
use  of  their  meeting  houses,"  and  assisted  him  in  his 
labors  "as  far  as  they  were  able."^^  Thus  we  see  that 
the  Mennonites  and  Quakers^^  were  by  no  means 
strangers  to  one  another  when  Penn  opened  up  Penn- 
sylvania as  an  asylum  for  the  persecuted  of  all  lands 
and  where  there  was  to  be  absolute  freedom  of  wor- 
ship. It  was  but  natural  that  through  his  agents  he 
should  first  invite  those  with  whom  he  had  come  into 
such  close  personal  contact,  and  who,  he  had  reason 
to  believe,  might  easily  be  induced  to  cast  their  lot  in 
the  new  country. 

The  Mennonites  at  the  close  of  the  seventeenth 
century  still  felt  the  heavy  hand  of  persecution  and 

oppression  upon  them.     The  day  of  the 
Persecutions    stake  and  the  rack  to  be  sure  was  past, 

but    in     Switzerland    the    followers    of 
Menno  Simons  were  still  sold  as  galley  slaves  or  left 


11.  Chalkley,  Journal,  99. 

12.  Story,    Journal,    176. 

13.  Quaker  preachers  were  not  always   received  with  open  arms  by  the 

Mennonite  churches,  however.  Occasionally  individual  Mennonites 
would  join  the  Society  but  often  a  congregation  as  such  would  bar 
the  doors  against  Quaker  preachers.     See  Pa.  Mag.  of  Hist.,  II.  242. 


GERMANTOWN  99 

to  starve  in  prisons.  In  the  Palatinate  and  other  parts 
of  Germany  they  were  allowed  freedom  of  worship, 
but  their  refusal  to  enter  military  service  and  to  take 
the  oath  often  brought  upon  them  great  hardships,  as 
they  often  had  to  pay  large  sums  of  money  for  the 
privilege  of  exemption.  In  Holland  and  Northwest- 
ern Germany,  and  especially  in  Crefeld,  they  enjoyed 
practically  most  of  the  religious  and  civil  rights  granted 
to  other  citizens.^*  Even  in  the  most  tolerant  countries, 
bowever,  the  position  of  the  Mennonites  on  the  ques- 
tion of  war,  the  oath  and  the  magistracy,  was  a  source 
of  continual  friction  between  them  and  the  civil  author- 
ities, while  their  opposition  to  infant  baptism,  and  to 
the  domination  of  the  state  churches  brought  upon 
them  the  suspicions  of  the  ecclesiastical  hierarchies. 
The  lot  of  the  Quakers  on  the  continent  as  well 
as  in  England  was  even  harder  than  that  of  the  Men- 
nonites. Their  aggressive  zeal  for  the  propagation  of 
their  faith,  their  peculiar  practices,  in  addition  to  their 
refusal  to  enter  military  service  and  to  take  the  oath — 
two  doctrines  which  they  held  in  common  with  the 
Mennonites— often  brought  them  into  trouble  with 
the  authorities.  On  several  occasions  Penn  wrote  to 
the  authorities  in  behalf  of  his  persecuted  brethren. 
In  1677  he  petitioned  the  Elector  of  the  Palatinate  for 
milder  treatment  of  the  Quakers  at  Kriegsheim,  for 
^'tithes  were  exacted  from  them  not  only  by  the  parson 
of  the  village  but  also  by  the  popish  priests  of  Worms. 
And  the  mayor  of  the  town  endeavored  to  restrain 
their  due  liberty  of  religious  meeting.''^^ 


14.  Barclay,   78. 

15.  Sewell,  I.  268. 


100  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

It  was  the  desire,  then,  for  fuller  religious  freedom, 
and  for  exemption  from  heavy  burdens  of  taxation  and 
civil  obligations  which  they  could  not  conscientiously 
accept  that  led  the  first  Mennonites  and  Quakers  to 
emigrate  from  Germany  and  Holland  to  Pennsylvania. 

Crefeld,  the  home  of  the  first  colony,  is  a  city  on 
the  Rhine  in  Northwestern  Germany,  near  the  borders 
of  the  Netherlands.  This  city  had  for  many  years  been 
.an  asylum  for  various  persecuted  sects  in  Germany. 
It  was  from  here  also  that  the  Dunkards  came  to 
America  some  years  later.  The  Mennonite  congre- 
gation had  been  in  existence  since  the  early  part  of 
the  century. 

The  individual  who  perhaps  was  most  directly 
concerned  with  the  first  emigration  was  Jacob  Telner, 

a  Mennonite  merchant  of  Crefeld,  but 
Jacob   Telner      resident  at  the   time   in  Amsterdam.^' 

Telner,  who  had  been  in  America  some- 
time between  1678  and  1681  in  the  interests  of  his 
business,  had  business  relations  with  the  Quakers  of 
London  and  was  on  friendly  terms  with  the  leading 
merchants  of  New  York.  He  may  thus  be  regarded 
as  a  connecting  link  between  Penn  and  the  Crefeld 
congregation.^^  It  was  no  doubt  largely  due  to  his 
influence  that  the  enterprise  was  launched,  partly  per- 
haps as  a  business  venture  but  principally  in  order 
that  his  brethren  might  enjoy  greater  civil  and  relig- 
ious liberty. 

Our  knowledge  of  the  history  of  the  Crefeld  colony 


16.  Pennypacker  in  Pa.   Ger.   Soc,  IX.   177. 

17.  Hazard,  Register,  VI.   183. 


GERMANTOWN  101 

begins  with  May  10,  1682,  when  William  Penn  con- 
C    f  ifi         veyed  to  Jacob  Tehier  of  Crefeld,Jan  Strey- 

_,      ,  pers,  also  a  merchant,  of  Kaldkirchen,  and 

Purchasers        . 

Dirk  Sipman  of  Crefeld  each  five  thousand 

acres  in  Pennsylvania.  On  June  11,  1683,  Penn  con- 
veyed to  Govert  Remke,  Leonart  Arets  and  Jacob 
Isaacs  Van  Bebber,  all  of  Crefeld,  one  thousand  acres 
each.  These  six,  all  Mennonites,  constitute  the  orig- 
inal Crefeld  purchasers.  All  of  these  men  with  the 
exception  of  Sipman  and  Remke  finally  found  their 
way  to  Pennsylvania.  Colonization  was  the  purpose 
these  purchasers  had  in  view,  and  Penn  stipulated 
that  a  certain  number  of  families  should  settle  in 
Pennsylvania  within  a  specified  time. 

In  the  meantime  a  group  of  thirteen  men  with 
their  families,  making  thirty-three  in  all,  nearly  all 
related  to  one  another  were  gathered  together  for 
the  first  colony.  With  the  possible  exception  of  one 
or  two  families  they  were  all  from  Crefeld,  although 
most  of  them  were  of  Dutch  ancestry.  The  names  of 
these  men  are  Lenart  Arets,  Abraham  Opden  Graff, 
Dirk  Opden  Grafif,  Herman  Opden  Graff,  William 
Streypers,  Thones  Kunders,  Reynier  Tyson,  Jan  Sie- 
mens, Jan  Lensen,  Peter  Keurlis,  Johannes  Bleikers, 
Jan  Lucken  and  Abraham  Tunes. 

On  June  18,  1683,  this  little  company  had  arrived 
at  Rotterdam  whither  they  had  been  accompanied  by 
Telner,  Sipman  and  Jan  Streypers,  three  of  the  largest 
purchasers.  Passage  had  been  secured  for  them 
(on  the  Concord)  through  James  Claypool,  a  Quaker 
merchant  in  London.  They  were  to  sail  July  6,  but 
owing  to  delay  in  Rotterdam  they  did  not  begin  their 


102  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

voyage  from  London  until  July  24.^*  The  Concord 
had  other  passengers  besides  the  Crefeld  emigrants, 
for  it  was  provisioned  with  "14  oxen,  30  (fasz)  beer, 
bread  and  water  enough  for  120  passengers."^'  After 
a  voyage  of  ten  weeks  they  reached  Philadelphia  on 
October  6.  One  young  woman  had  died  on  board  the 
ship,  but  this  loss  Avas  more  than  balanced  by  the  birth 
of  two  children.  Here  we  must  leave  this  little  band  of 
pioneers  and  turn  briefly  to  the  consideration  of  an- 
other subject, — Pastorius  and  the  Frankfort  Land 
Company. 

The  Frankfort  Land  Company  was  composed  of 
a  number  of  Pietists  in  and  around  Frankfort  on  the 
Main,  who  at  different  times  had  bought 
Pietists  about  25,000  acres  from  Penn  for  humani- 
tarian purposes.  The  Pietists  were  not  a 
distinct  religious  sect.  Pietism  began  among  orth- 
odox Lutherans  and  was  a  protest  against  the 
formalism  and  dogmatism  of  the  church  at  large.  Its 
chief  exponent  was  Philip  Jacob  Spener,  who  was  born 
in  1635  in  Alsace.  He  later  studied  at  Strasburg  and 
in  1666  became  pastor  of  a  church  in  Frankfort  on  the 
Main.  It  was  here  that  he  first  began  to  discredit  a 
mere  intellectual  belief  as  a  means  to  salvation  and 
to  teach  that  a  complete  transformation  of  life  was 
necessary.  He  encouraged  Bible  study  and  the  culti- 
vation of  the  spiritual  life.  In  1670  he  organized  the 
"Collegia  Pietatis"  which  was  merely  a  gathering  of 
pious  souls  for  purposes  of  devotion.  This  was  the 
group  of  men  with  whom  Penn  had  come  in  contact 
in  1677. 


18.  Claypool   Letter   Book.      Extracts  in   Pa.   Mag.   of  History,   X.   275. 

19.  Seidensticker,     Bilder    aus    der    Deutsch-Pennsylvanischen  Geschichte, 

p.  26. 


GERMANTOWN  103 

The  result  of  this  meeting  was  the  formation  of 
the  Frankfort  Land  Company,  whose  purpose  was 
to  establish  in  the  wilds  of  Pennsyl- 
Frankfort  vania   for   themselves   and   others   an 

Land  Company  ideal  retreat  where  they  might  devote 
themselves,  free  and  unhindered,  more 
exclusively  to  the  cultivation  of  the  religious  life.  The 
original  plan,  however,  was  never  carried  out.  Land 
was  actually  purchased  from  Penn,  as  we  have  just 
seen,  but  the  company  far  from  maintaining  its  original 
ideals  soon  degenerated  into  a  mere  speculating  enter- 
prise. The  agent  for  these  Pietists  was 
Pastorius  Francis  Daniel  Pastorius,  an  accomplished 
scholar  and  successful  lawyer,  who  had 
traveled  much  as  a  student,  and  practiced  law  in  Frank- 
fort, Worms,  Mannheim  and  Speier,  and  it  was  at 
Frankfort  in  the  spring  of  1682  that  he  met  Spener. 
Hearing  much  of  Pennsylvania  and  of  the  proposed 
scheme  of  the  Pietists  to  buy  large  tracts  of  land  for 
colonization  purposes,  he  was  seized  with  the  idea 
of  going  to  Pennsylvania  himself  to  enjoy  the  quiet, 
simple  Christian  life  for  which  the  new  world  seemed 
to  afford  such  ample  opportunities.^"  As  agent  for  the 
company  Pastorius  later  purchased  land  for  them  from 
Penn,  and  for  seventeen  years  acted  as  their  attorney 
in  Pennsylvania. 

Soon  after  his  appointment  Pastorius  left  for 
America.  On  his  way  to  Rotterdam  from  which  place 
he  was  to  embark  for  Philadelphia  he  visited  Kriegs- 
heim  and  Crefeld  where  he  met  many  of  the  future 
colonists.  In  Rotterdam  he  met  Jacob  Telner  and 
Benjamin  Furley,  Penn's  agents  in  Holland.     Telner 


20.     Seidensticker,  p.   55. 


104  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

and  such  Crefeld  purchasers  as  did  not  immediately 
emigrate  also  engaged  Pastorius  to  represent  their 
interests  in  the  new  world.  Much  of  the  land  bought 
by  the  Frankfort  Company  was  located  around  what 
was  soon  to  be  Germantown  and  many  of  the  early 
settlers  bought  their  lands  from  this  company.  This 
explains  why  Pastorius  played  such  an  important  role 
in  the  early  affairs  of  the  first  Mennonite  colony.^^ 
Pastorius  accompanied  by  several  of  the  Crefeld 
purchasers  had  left  London  early  in  the  summer  of 
1683  and  had  arrived  in  Philadelphia,  August  20,  about 
six  weeks  before  the  Crefeld  colonists  came. 

These  colonists  did  not  remain  long  in  Philadel- 
phia, which  was  at  that  time  a  mere  village,  having 

been  founded  only  the  year  before.  They 
Germantown  immediately  set  out  in  search  of  their  new 
Founded  homes.     Following,  it  is  said,  an  Indian 

trail,  which  is  now  perhaps  Germantown 
Avenue,  they  selected  as  their  first  dwelling  place  an 
elevated  spot  between  the  Delaware  and  Schuylkill 
rivers  about  five  or  six  miles  north  of  where  the  village 
of  Philadelphia  then  stood.  This  Indian  path  was  lined 
with  laurel  bushes.     The  surrounding  region  was  a 


21.  In  religion  Pastorius  has  been  claimed  by  both  Mennonites  and 
Quakers  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  he  belonged  to  neither  denomination. 
He  was  himself  baptized  a  Lutheran  in  Germany,  and  had  his  two 
sons,  born  in  Pennsylvania,  baptized  into  the  same  church.  Being 
a  Pietist  (See  J.  F.  Sachse,  The  German  Sectaries  of  Pennsylvania) 
however,  he  no  doubt  felt  himself  very  much  at  home  with  both 
Mennonites  and  Quakers.  During  the  early  years  of  the  German- 
town  settlement  there  was  no  Lutheran  organization  in  the  com- 
munity and  so  we  find  Pastorius  taking  an  active  interest  in  the 
religious  affairs  of  the  Quakers.  His  name  often  appears  on  the 
records  as  a  delegate  to  the  Quarterly  Meetings  (See  Abington 
Records).  There  is  nothing  to  show,  however,  that  he  took  a  similar 
interest  in  the  religious  affairs  of  the  Mennonites. 


GERMANTOWN  105 

"very  fine  and  fertile  district  with  plenty  of  springs 
of  fresh  water,  being  well  supplied  with  oak,  walnut 
and  chestnut  trees  and  having  besides  excellent  and 
abundant  pasturage  for  the  cattle."  -'  On  October 
24,  Thomas  Fairman,  Penn's  surveyor,  laid  out  the 
land  for  the  colonists  in  a  township  afterwards  called 
Germantown  or  Germanopolis  in  honor  of  the  nation- 
ality of  the  colonists.  On  the  next  day  they  all  gathered 
together  in  the  cave  of  Pastorius  and  cast  lots  for  their 
portions  of  land.-^ 

These  early  settlers  were  mostly  mechanics  and 
linen  weavers  "and  not  given  much  to  agriculture." 
Consequently,  instead  of  locating  on  large  farms  as 

did  the  Mennonites  on  the  Pequea  some 
Occupation       years  later,  they  established  a  village  and 

divided  their  time  between  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  soil,  which  soon,  however,  became  a 
secondary  occupation  with  them,  and  the  industry  of 
weaving.  The  Opden  Grafifs,  Arets,  Tunes  and  Lensen 
were  all  linen  weavers,  while  Dennis  Konders  was  a 
dyer.2^  In  1686  Abraham  Opden  Graff  petitioned  the 
Governor's  Council  to  grant  him  the  Governor's  pre- 
mium for  "the  first  and  finest  pece  of  linen  cloth.''^" 
Penn  encouraged  the  linen  industry  and  gave  Telner 
100  acres  of  Liberty  land  for  his  services  in  helping 
to  establish  the  colony.-" 


22.  Letter  of  Pastorius,  quoted  in  Pa.  Mag.  of  Hist.,  IV.  90. 

23.  Watson,   Annals,   II.    18. 

24.  Pa.  Arch.,  Second  Ser.,  XIX.,  p.  270. 

25.  Col.  Rec,  I.   194. 

26.  Pa.  Arch.  Second  Sen,  XIX.  256. 


106  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

As  early  as  1692  Richard  Fraeme  wrote: 

The  Germantown  of  which  I  spoke  before 
Which  is  at  least  in  length  a  mile  or  more, 
Where  live  High  German  people  and  Low  Dutch— 
Whose  trade  in  weaving  cloth  is  much — 
Here  grows  the  flax  as  also  you  may  know 
That  from  the  same  they  do  divide  the  tow. 27 

The  village  was  laid  out  along  one  street  60  feet 
wide  with  cross  streets  40  feet  wide.-^  This  street, 
Fraeme  says,  was  one  mile  long  in  1692,  and  by  1748 
when  the  famous  Swedish  Botanist  Kalm  visited  Ger- 
mantown it  had  grown  to  two  miles.  An  old  chron- 
icler, writing  in  1700,  relates  that  at  that  time  it  was 
lined  on  both  borders  with  blooming  peach  trees.^^  On 
both  sides  were  erected  the  first  temporary  dwelling 
places  by  the  settlers.  Pastorius  in  March  1684,  writes 
that  the  community  already  has  forty-two  persons  in 
twelve  families  and  each  family  has  an  estate  of  three 
acres.  Later,  however,  the  village  was  resurveyed  into 
fifty-five  lots  of  fifty  acres  each,  running  along  both 
•sides  of  the  main  street.^" 

During  the  first  few  years  the  colonists  were  kept 
busy  clearing  the  land,  opening  roads,  and  raising  such 
grain  as  they  needed  for  their  sustenance.  On  October 
22,  1684,  William  Streypers  wrote  to  Holland : 

I  have  been  busy  and  made  a  brave  dwelling  and  under  it  a 
cellar,  fit  to  live  in,  and  have  so  much  grain  such  as  Indian 


27.  Old  South   Leaflets,   Number  95. 

28.  See  Pastorius  letter  in  Pa.   Ger.   Soc,   IX.    145. 

29.  Watson,  II.  46. 

30.  Pa.   Ger.   Soc,   IX.  201. 


GERMANTOWN  107 

corn  and  buckwheat  that  this  winter  I  shall  be  better  ofif  than 
I  was  last  year. 31 

The  temporary  houses  and  caves  were  soon  re- 
placed by  other  and  more  substantial  buildings.    The 

region  abounded  in  sandstone  and  many  of  the 
First  settlers,  before  1700,  erected  large  and  corn- 
Houses    fortable  stone  houses,  some  of  which  are  still 

standing.22  ^phese  buildings  cost  considerable 
time  and  labor  in  their  erection,  but  were  put  up  with- 
out very  much  other  expense.  Several  of  the  original 
purchasers  may  have  been  men  of  means,  but  the  actual 
settlers  for  some  time  were  poor  men.  Pastorius  in 
1684  says, — 

These  honest  people  spent  all  their  means  on  their  journey 


31.  Streyper's  in  a  letter  to  his  brother.     Quoted  by  Pennypackcr  in  Pa. 

Ger.  Soc.   Preceedings,  IX.   12. 

32.  "Most  of  the  old  houses  in  Germantown  are  plastered  on  the  inside 

with  clay  and  straw  mixed,  and  over  it  is  laid  a  finishing  coat  of 
thin  lime  plaster;  some  old  houses  seem  to  be  made  with  log 
frames  and  the  interstices  filled  with  wattles,  river  rushes  and 
clay  intermixed.  In  a  house  ninety  years  of  age  taken  down,  the 
grass  in  the  clay  appeared  as  green  as  when  cut.  Probably  twenty 
houses  now  remain  of  the  primitive  population.  They  are  of  but 
one  story,  so  low  that  a  man  six  feet  high  can  readily  touch  the  eves 
of  the  roof.  Their  gable  ends  are  to  the  street.  The  ground  story 
is  of  stone  or  of  logs — or  sometimes  the  front  room  is  of  stone  and 
the  back  room  is  of  logs,  and  thus  they  have  one  room  behind  the 
other.  The  roof  is  high  and  mostly  hipped,  forms  a  low  bed 
chamber ;  the  ends  of  the  houses  above  the  first  story  are  of  boards 
or  sometimes  of  shingles  with  a  small  chamber  window  at  each 
end." 

"In  modern  times  those  houses  made  of  logs  have  been  lathed 
and  plastered  over,  so  as  to  look  like  stone  houses;  the  doors  all 
divide  in  the  middle,  so  as  to  have  an  upper  and  a  lower  door ;  and 
in  some  houses  the  upper  door  folds.  The  windows  are  two  doors 
opening  outwards  and  were  at  first  set  in  leaden  frames  with  outside 
frames  of  wood." — Watson  II.   18. 

Since  the  above  was  written  many  of  the  old  houses  have  dis- 
appeared.    Some  of  those  still  standing  have  since  been  remodelled. 


108  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

so  that  when  provision  was  not  made  for  them  by  William 
Penn  they  were  obliged  to  serve  others. ^^ 

From  Indian  ravages  and  deadly  disease,  the  two 
most  fatal  enemies  of  so  many  of  the  early  American 
colonists,  the  Germantown  settlement  was  fortunately 
free.  During  the  first  winter  there  was  only  one  death 
and  that  was  of  the  aged  mother  of  the  Opden  Graff 
brothers.  While  Abraham,  who  sent  the  news  to  Ger- 
manVj  was  sitting  in  his  room  with  pen  in  his  hand 
an  Indian  squaw  came  into  the  room.  Curious  to  know 
what  the  writer  was  doing  she  took  the  pen  in  her 
hand,  whereupon  Opden  Graff  took  her  hand  in  his  and 
traced  the  news  of  his  mother's  death  across  the  page. 
Thus  was  the  news  of  the  first  death  among  the  colon- 
ists sent  to  their  friends  in  Europe.^* 

The  colony  once  established,  was  soon  increased 
by  fresh  arrivals  from  Germany  and  Holland,  influ- 
enced to  emigrate  either  by  their  friends  here 
Later  or  by  Penn's  agents  in  Europe  who  during 
Arrivals  all  this  time  were  busily  engaged  in  securing 
colonists  for  Penn's  new  province.  For  the 
first  ten  or  fifteen  years  the  immigration  was  very 
largely  confined  to  those  of  the  Mennonite  or  Quaker 


Among  this  number  wholly  or  partially  original  are  the  Dirk  Keyser 
house  built  1738;  the  Thones  Kunder's  home  now  No.  5109  Ger- 
mantown Avenue;  the  Engle  house  built  1758;  and  the  Rittenhouse 
mansion  on  the  Wissahickon  built  1709.  The  Hiefert  Papen  home, 
built  in  1698  was  torn  down  several  years  ag«.  For  a  discussion 
on  the  old  houses  of  Germantown  see  Jenkins,  Guide  book  to  His- 
toric Germantown ;  and  Keyser,  Old  Historic  Germantown,  in  Pa. 
Ger.   Sec,   Sec,   XV.    (C.   H.   S.) 

33.  Pa.  Ger.   Soc,  IX.   Pastorius  letter  p.   141. 

34.  Letter    of    Abr.    Opden    Graff    written    to    friends    in    Holland    1684. 

Translated  and  published  by  J.  F.  Sachse,  in  Letters  Relating  to 
the  Settlement   of   Germantown. 


GERMANTOWN  109 

faith  but  soon  after  that  the  Reformed  and  Lutherans 
predominated,  with  a  sprinkling  of  Dunkards,  and 
many  other  denominations  and  sects.  Germantown 
is  not  only  the  first  home  of  the  Mennonites  in 
America,  but  the  first  home  of  the  German  race  in 
America.  Especially  was  it  the  religious  cradle  of 
German  America,  Here  was  organized  not  only  the 
first  Mennonite  church  in  this  country  but  also  the 
first  Dunkard,^^  German  Reformed,^^  German 
Lutheran,"  Moravian,  and  one  of  the  earliest 
Methodist  congregations. 

Among  several  other  persons  concerning  whose 
religious  affiliations  we  have  no  positive  information 
came,  in  1684,  these  Mennonites, — Hans  Peter  Um- 
stat,  Isaac  Jacob  Van  Bebber  from  Crefeld,  and 
Jacob  Telner.  The  next  year  added  to  the  list 
Hiefert  Papen,  who  is  said  to  have  built  the 
first  stone  house  in  Philadelphia,  and  Klas  Jansen, 
and  two  families,  Peter  Shoemaker  and  Gerhard 
Hendricks  from  the  Mennonite-Quaker  congre- 
gation at  Kriegsheim.  Johannes  Kassel,  also 
a  Quaker  convert,  came  from  the  same  place  during 
the  following  year.  In  1687  came  Matthias  Van 
Bebber,  son  of  Jacob  Isaacs  Van  Bebber,  the  founder,, 
a  few  years  later,  of  the  Skippack  settlement.  In  1688 
Dirck  Keyser,  who  was  a  well  known  silk  merchant 
of  Amsterdam,  arrived  by  way  of  New  York.  In  this 
year  came  also  William  Rittinghuysen,  the  first 
Mennonite  preacher  in  America. 


35.  Brumbaugh,  History  of  the  Brethren. 

36.  J.  H.  DubLs.     German  Reformed  Church.  (Am.  Ch.  Hist.  Series)  245. 

37.  H.   E.  Jacobs.     The  German  Lutherans   (Am.   Ch.  Hist.  Series)   710- 


110 


MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 


During  the  next  fifteen  years  were  added  a 
number  of  names  many  of  which  have  occupied  a  con- 
spicuous place  ever  since  that  day,  not  only  in  the 
annals  of  the  Mennonite  church  but  in  the  political 
history    of    the    commonwealth    of    Pennsylvania    as 


The  Dick  Kcyser  House,  built  1738 


well.  All  came  from  Lower  Germany  and  Holland. 
They  were,  Hendrick  Sellen,  Hendrick  Pennebecker, 
the  first  German  surveyor  for  the  province,^^  George 
Gottschalk,  Hans  Neus,  a  silversmith,  four  families 


38.  For  much  of  the  detailed  information  on  the  early  settlement  of 
Germantown  I  am  indebted  to  the  writings  of  S.  W.  Pcnnypackcr  in 
the  Prc-^edings  of  the  Pa.  Ger.  Society,  Vol.  IX.  Where  other 
references  are  not  given  I  have  drawn  upon  Pennypacker  for  my 
facts. 


GERMANTOWN  111 

from  the  Hamburg  congregation,  Harmen  Karsdorp, 
Claes  Berends,  Isaac  Van  Sinteren,  and  Paul 
Roosen,  Paulus  Kuster,  Paul  Engel,  Christopher 
Schlegel,  Evert  In  de  Hoffen,  Christian  Meyer,^^  Hans 
Graff/"  Cornelius  Bom  and  Hendrick  Casselberg,  with 
perhaps  several  others. 

In  the  meantime  those  of  other  religious  faiths 
were  continually  finding  their  way  into  the  new  colony. 
In   1694   Kelpius,   a  disciple   of  Jacob 
Other  Boehm,  came  over  with  a  number  of 

Denominations  followers.  After  remaining  in  German- 
town  for  a  short  time  they  withdrew  to 
the  lonely  banks  of  the  beautiful  Wissahickon  a  few 
miles  to  the  west  and  there  Kelpius  became  known  as 
the  Hermit  of  the  Ridge."  With  Kelpius  came  a  party 
of  Lutherans  who  held  their  first  services  in  America 
in  the  house  of  the  Mennonite,  Van  Bebber.''^  There 
were  also  a  number  of  the  Reformed  denomination,  as 
well  as  several  Quakers  who  for  the  most  part  had 
been  proselytes  from  the  Mennonites  in  Crefeld, 
Kriegsheim  or  other  places.  The  Reformed,  however^ 
did  not  organize  a  congregation  until  1710.*^ 

There  seems  to  be  considerable  confusion  in  the 
minds  of  Avriters  on  this  subject  as  to  the  relation  of 
these  various  sects.  This  confusion 
Relation  of  arises  undoubtedly  very  largely  from  the 
Various  Sects  fact  that  during  the  first  few  years  while 
the  community  was  still  small  and  most 
of  the  denominations  without  preachers,  the  settlers 

39.  Fretz,    Moyer    Family. 

40.  Rupp,    Hist,    of   Lane.    Co.,    133. 

41.  For  discussion  of  this  subject  see  J.  F.  Sachse,  the  German  Sectaries 

r>i   Pennsylvania. 

42.  Pa.   Ger.   Soc,  XI.   79. 

43.  Dubbs,    History    of    the    Reformed    Church. 


112  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

irrespective  of  their  religious  affiliations  often  wor- 
shipped in  common.  In  1686  a  public  meeting  house 
was  built  which  served  as  a  place  of  common  worship. 
It  was  only  as  the  different  denominations  grew,  that 
separate  organizations  developed.  The  Quakers  built 
their  first  meeting  house  in  170.5,  and  the  Mennonites 
in  1708.  There  is  much  dispute  especially  concerning 
the  religious  complexion  of  the  original  thirteen 
families.  What  were  they,  Mennonites  or  Quakers?^* 
We  have  already  noticed  the  close  and  intimate  asso- 
ciations between  the  two  denominations  on  the  conti- 
nent. Whatever  may  have  been  the  church  relations 
of  the  first  settlers  after  they  came  to  Germantown 
there  can  be  very  little  doubt  that,  with  the  exception 
of  Pastorius,  they  were  originally  of  Mennonite 
descent.  According  to  Pennypacker"  who  has  made 
a  very  exhaustive  study  of  the  family  connections  of 
these  people,  the  Opden  Graffs  were  grandsons  of  the 
Herman  Opden  Graff  who  as  a  delegate  from  Crefeld 
signed  the  Dortrecht  Confession  of  Faith  in  1632. 
Lensen  was  a  member  of  the  ^Mennonite  church  in 
1708  and  is  the  only  one  of  the  thirteen  whose  name 
appears  on  the  church  roll  at  that  time.  Jan  Lucken 
has  the  same  name  as  the  engraver  who  illustrated  the 
Martyrs'  Mirror  of  1685  in  Holland.  A  certain 
Leonart  Arets  was  a  follower  of  David  Joris  who  be- 
longed to  one  of  the  Anabaptist  sects  in  Holland  and 
who  died  at  Basel  in  1556.  Tunes  was  a  common 
name  among  the  Mennonite  preachers  of  that  time. 


44.  The   fact   that   the   Mennonites   never   kept   any   church   records   makes 

a  thorough  study  of  their  early  history  extremely  difficult,  especially 
on  such  a  question  as  this. 

45.  Pennypacker,   in    Pa.    Ger.    Soc,   IX. 


GERMANTOWN  113 

William  Streypers  was  a  brother  of  Jan  Streypers" 
who  was  an  uncle  to  Hermanns  Kuster  known  as  a 
Mennonite  in  1708.  The  Streypers  furthermore,  were 
cousins  to  the  Opden  Grafifs.  The  wife  of  Thones  Kun- 
ders  was  a  sister  to  Arets  and  a  sister  of  the  Streypers. 
The  wife  of  Jan  Streyper  was  a  sister  of  Reynier 
Tyson.  Keurles  also  was  related  to  several  of  the 
group.  This  leaves  no  doubt  as  to  the  faith  of  these 
people  before  the  coming  of  Stephen  Crisp,  the  Quaker, 
into  Crefeld  some  time  before  1683. 

And  yet  some  of  them  may  have  accepted  the 
Quaker  faith  before  the  emigration*',  but  concerning 
this  question  it  is  difficult  to  reach  a  definite  conclusion. 
We  are  certain,  however,  that  a  number  of  them 
showed  decided  Quaker  qualities  soon  after  they 
reached  Germantown. 

The  fact  that  at  first  family  ties,  lack  of  preachers, 
their  common  hardships  and  common  interests  made 

it  necessary  for  all  to  worship  as  one  body 
Common  irrespective  of  their  individual  religious  be- 
Worship       liefs,  makes  it  difficult  to  tell  whether  or  not 

the  company  represented  more  than  one 
religious  faith.  The  first  meeting  seems  to  have  been 
in  the  house  of  Thones  Kunders,  whom  the  Quakers 
claim  as  one  of  their  members,  and  it  is  likely  that  this 
and  succeeding  gatherings  partook  more  of  Quaker 
than   Mennonite   characteristics.       A   number  of  the 


46.  See   Streyper   Mms.   in   Pa.   Historical   Soc.   Lib.,   Philadelphia. 

47.  "Before    their    departure    from    Germany    there   had    been   a    Friend's 

Monthly  Meeting  held  at  Crefeld  which  was  discontinued  immediate- 
ly after  their  departure,  indicating  that  all  or  nearly  all  the  full 
body  of  members  had  gone."— Jenkins,  Guide  Book  to  Historic 
Germantown,  p.  18. 


114 


MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 


colonists  took  an  active  interest  from  the  very  begin- 
ning in  Quaker  religious  affairs. 

Among  these  was  Abraham  Opden  Graff  who  lat- 
er became  one  of  the  leading  participants  in  the  Keith 
controversy.  He  left  Germantown  some  time  after 
1704  for  the  Skippack,  and  consequently  the  records 
of  the  Abingdon  meetings  make  no  mention  of  his 
name.  It  is  likely  that  at  Skippack  he  was  again 
active  in  the  Mennonite  congregation,  and  he  is  buried 
in  the  Mennonite  graveyard  at  that  place.  The  name 
of  his  brother  also,  Derrick  Up  de  Grave,  is  often  found 
on  the  Quaker  records  as  a  delegate  to  the  Quarterly 
meetings,  as  are  also  the  names  of  Dennis  (Thones) 
Kunders,  Leonard  Arets,  Reynier  Tyson  (1709)  and 
John  Lukens  (1705).  During  the  first  half  of  the 
18th  century  the  names  of  Conrad,  Tyson,  Lukens, 
Streyper  and  Updegrave,  all  descendants  of  the  origin- 
al thirteen,  often  appeared  on  the  records  of  the 
Monthly  Meetings.     Many  of  these  records  it  will  be 

observed  refer  to  a  time  long 
after  the  Mennonites  had 
organized  their  congrega- 
tion, and  thus  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  the  men 
named  had  deserted  the 
Mennonite  for  the  Quaker 
faith.  These  men  with  the 
arrival  a  few  years  later  of 
theMennonite-Quakers  from 
Kriegsheim    constituted    the 

Thones     Kunders    House.  firSt    and    for    SOmC    time,    the 

Built  before  1688.    A  part        strougcst   rcligious   body   in 

of   the    original   wall   is   still  ^ 

standing.  Gcrmantowu. 


GERMANTOWN  115 

This  view  is  substantiated  by  a  letter  from  Jacob 
Gottchalk,  one  of  the  early  Mennonite  preachers.** 
He  says : 

The  beginning  of  the  community  of  Jesus  Christ  here  at 
Germantown  who  are  called  Mennonites  took  its  rise  in  this 
way,  that  some  friends  out  of  Holland  and  other  places  in 
Germany  came  here  together  and  although  they  did  not  all 
agree,  since  at  this  time  the  most  were  still  Quakers,  never- 
theless they  found  it  good  to  have  exercises  together  but 
in  doing  it  they  were  to  be  regarded  as  sheep  who  had  no 
■shepherd  and  since  as  yet  they  had  no  preachers,  they  en- 
-deavored  to  instruct  one  another. 

Whatever  the  religious  faith,  however,  of  the 
larger  part  of  the  colony  may  have  been  during  the 
■early  years  of  the  settlement,  it  must  not  be  forgotten 
that  originally  they  had  all  been  Mennonites  and  that 
the  leaders,  Jacob  Telner,  Matthias  Van  Bebber  and 
others  remained  true  to  that  faith  and  that  soon  many 
other  Mennonites  came  over.  The  Germantown 
settlement  in  its  inception  after  all,  must  be  considered 
a  Mennonite  enterprise. 

As  the  colony  and  the  various  parties  grew  in 
numbers  and  wealth,  the  different  sects  began  to 
differentiate  and  crystallize  into 
Mennonites  separate    organizations.      We    can 

Worship  Separate  get  a  glimpse  of  the  religious  con- 
ditions several  years  after  the 
settlement  was  made  from  a  letter  written  on  June  7, 
1690,  by  Domine  Rudolfus  Varick,  a  Reformed  pastor 
visiting  at  that  time  in  Pennsylvania.  In  writing  to 
Amsterdam  he  says, — 

I  came  to  a  German  village  near  Philadelphia  where 
among    others    I    heard    Jacob    Telner,    a    German    Quaker, 


48.     Pa.  Ger.  Soc,  IX.  220. 


116  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

preaching.  Later  I  lodged  at  his  house  in  Philadelphia.  The 
village  consists  of  44  families,  28  of  whom  are  Quakers,  the 
other  16  of  the  Reformed  church.  Among  whom  I  spoke  to 
those  who  had  been  received  as  members  of  the  Lutheran, 
the  Mennonites,  and  the  Papists,  who  are  very  much 
opposed  to  Quakerism  and  therefore  lovingly  meet  every 
Sunday  when  a  Menist,  Dirck  Keyser*^  from  Amsterdam 
reads   a   sermon   from   a   book   by   Jobst    Harmensen.^" 

Although  Varick's  observations  may  not  be 
altogether  reliable,  yet  this  much  can  safely  be 
accepted,  namely,  that  in  1690  the  Mennonites  had 
withdrawn  from  the  Quakers  in  worship ;  that  they 
must  still  have  been  few  in  number;  that  they  were 
still  without  a  regularly  ordained  minister;  and  that 
other  denominations,  which  likewise  were  without 
regular  organization  often  met  with  them  rather  than 
with  the  Quakers  for  worship.  According  to  Jacob 
Cotschalk,  to  whose  letter  reference  has  already  been 
made,  these  meetings  were  held  in  the  house  of  Isaac 
Jacob  Van  Bebber.  In  this  year  the  Mennonite  com- 
munity was  increased  by  more  of  their  brethren  from 
Crefeld,  who  from  "the  first  found  it  good  or  judged  it 
"better  for  the  building  up  of  the  community  to  choose 
by  a  unanimity  of  votes  a  preacher  and  some 
deacons." "^^  Accordingly  William  Rittenhouse  was 
chosen  preacher  and  Jan  Neus,  deacon.  These  were 
the  first  two  officials  of  the  ISIennonite  church  in 
America.  On  October  8,  1702,  two  other  ministers 
were  elected — Jacob  Gotschalk  and  Hans  Neus.^^ 


49.  Keyset   had   not   yet   been   ordained   to   the   ministry. 

50.  Pa.    Ger.    Soc,    XV.     A   translation. 

51.  Gotschalk  letter.      Pa.   Ger.   Soc,   IX.   220. 

52.  This  information   is   given   in   a   letter   written  to   Holland   in   1773   by 

Andreas  Ziegler,  Isaac  Kolb  and  Christian  Funk.  These  three 
men  get  tlieir  information  from  the  earlier  Gotschalk  letter. 
Pennypacker  found  the  letter  in  Holland  and  published  it  in  his 
"Ilendrick   Pennebecker." 


GERMANTOWN  117 

Thus  far  the  church  was  without  a  bishop  and 
hence  it  was  impossible  to  administer  the  sacrament  of 

communion  or  the  rite  of  baptism.  Soon 
First  after  1700  a  letter  was  written  to  the  church 
Bishop      at   Hamburg- Altona,   from   which   several   of 

the  brethren  had  come  in  1700,  asking  that  a 
bishop  be  sent  to  them  for  the  purpose  of  ordaining  a 
bishop  for  the  American  church.  But  no  one  in  Altona 
seemed  to  be  willing  to  make  the  long  journey,  and 
the  authorities  therefore  advised  the  Americans  that 
if  their  selection  could  be  made  harmoniously,  one  of 
their  own  ministers  might  install  a  bishop.  One  of 
the  four  ministers  from  the  Hamburg-Altona  church 
whose  signature  appears  to  this  letter  of  advice  was 
Gerrit  Roosen,  a  well-known  preacher  of  that  day^'. 
This  advice  seems  to  have  been  followed,  for  before 
1708  William  Rittenhouse  had  become  the  first  bishop 
of  the  congregation. 

In   1708  the  congregation  erected  a  building  for 
worship.       As   early   as   February    10,    1703,   Arnold 
Van     Vossen     had     delivered     to    Jan 
Log  House        Neus   in   behalf  of  the   church   a  deed 
of  1708  for  three  perches   of  land  for  a   meet- 

ing house.  The  house  was  not  put 
up,  however,  until  1708.^*  It  was  a  log  structure 
and  stood  until  1770,  when  it  was  replaced  by 
a  stone  building,  which  is  still  standing.  The 
spring  of  1708  must  have  been  a  season  of  re- 
newed life  to  the  small  brotherhood.  On  March  22, 
three  new  deacons  were  elected — Isaac  Van  Sinteren, 
Hendrick  Kassel  and  Conrad  Janz.    On  April  20,  two 

53.  Brons,    Ursprung,     Entwickelung,    und    Schicksale    der    Mennoniteti, 

p.  224. 

54.  Pennypacker,   in    Pa.   Ger.   Sec.    IX. 


118 


MENNOXITES    OF    AMERICA 


new  preachers — Herman  Kasdorp  and  Martin  Kolb, 
were  chosen.  On  May  9,  Bishop  Jacob  Gotschalk, 
successor  to  Bishop  Rittenhouse,  who  ha4  died  in 
February,  administered  the  first  baptismal  services  to 
eleven  applicants  for  church  membership.  On  May 
23,  just  two  weeks  later,  all  partook  of  the  Lord's  sup- 
per^". All  tills  evidently  took  place  in  the  little  log 
meeting  house  which  had  just  been  completed.  Mor- 
gan Edwards  says  that  the  membership  at  this-  time 
numbered  fifty-two^".  He  must  be  mistaken,  however, 
for  he  includes  William  Rittenhouse,  who  died  several 

months  before,  and 
Gotschalk  in  his  let- 
ter says  that  the  con- 
gregation numbered 
forty-four  members. 
Edwards  no  doubt 
included  some  who 
had  either  died  or 
moved  away  from 
Germantown  before 
May  23.  The  com- 
munity continued  to 
grov/.  In  1709  others 
came  from  the  Palatinate  so  that  by  April  6,  1712,  the 
entire  membership  including  the  settlement  on  the 
Skippack,  counted  up  ninety-nine  individuals.^^ 

Many  of  the  later  arrivals  at  Germantown  were 


An  old  bench  and  table  in  the 
Germantown  meeting  house.  Tradi- 
tion says  they  were  used  by  the  school- 
master   Christopher    Dock. 


55.  Gotschalk   letter,    Pa.    Ger.    Soc,    IX.    220. 

56.  See    Morgan    Edwards,    Material    for   a   History   of   the    Baptists,    for 

a  complete  list   of   members  at  that  time.      The  list   is   also  copied 
by   Cassel    in    Geschichte   der    Mennoniten. 

57.  Gotschalk   letter,    Pa.    Ger.    Soc.    IX.   220. 


GERMANTOWN  119 

an  agricultural  people  and  as  the  land  about  the  village 
was  taken  up  it  was  inevitable  that  new  lo- 
Skippack  cations  should  be  sought  for.  Among  the 
Settlement  fertile  valleys  that  very  early  began  to  at- 
tract attention  as  suitable  for  new  settle- 
ments was  that  of  the  Perkiomen,  watered  by  the 
beautiful  Perkiomen  creek  which  empties  into  the 
Schuylkill  about  thirty  miles  above  Germantown.  The 
Skippack  is  a  branch  of  the  Perkiomen  flowing  directly 
through  the  middle  of  what  is  now  Montgomery 
county.  It  was  on  the  banks  of  this  stream  that  the 
second  Mennonite  church  in  America  was  established. 
On  February  22,  1702,  Matthias  Van  Bebber  received 
a  patent  for  6166^^  acres  of  land  in  what  is  now  the 
lower  part  of  Perkiomen  township,  but  which  was  for 
many  years  known  as  Van  Bebber's  township.  Most 
of  the  early  settlers  were  Mennonites  from  German- 
town,  or  recently  from  Europe.  Among  the  Mennon- 
ites who  bought  land  and  located  on  this  tract  be- 
tween 1702  and  1709  were  Hendrick  Pennebecker  and 
his  brother-in-law,  Johannes  Umstat,  Johannes  Kuster, 
Klas  Jansen,  Jan  Krey,  John  Jacobs,  Herman  In 
de  Hoffen,  Hermanns  Kuster,  Christopher  Zimmerman 
and  Jacob,  Johannes  and  Martin  Kolb.  In  1717  Van 
Bebber  gave  one  hundred  acres  to  the  congregation 
for  a  place  "to  bury  their  dead  as  also  for  all  and 
every  the  inhabitants  of  said  Township  to  build  a 
schoolhouse  and  fence  in  a  sufficient  burying  place,"^' 


58.  Pa.  Arch.,   Second   Sen,   XIX.    338. 

59.  In   the  early  days   burying   grounds   were   frequently   owned   in   com- 

mon by  several  denominations.     The  same  was  frequently  true  of  the 
schools  held  in  the   Mennonite  churches. 


120  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

The  house,*'*'  however,  was  not  built  until  about  1725.®'- 

In  the  early  development  of  Germantown  there  are 
two  events  which  deserve  more  than  a  passing  notice 
and  which  are  of  more  than  local  significance.  These 
events  are  the  protest  against  holding  of  slaves  in  1688, 
and  the  incorporation  of  the  little  village  in  the  form 
of  a  borough  in  1691. 

It  is  but  fitting  that  the  Mennonites  who  in  the 
old  world  were  among  the  first  of  modern  advocates 

for  entire  liberty  of  soul,  should  in  the 
Protest  against  new  be  the  first  to  raise  their  voice 
Slavery  in  public  protest  against  the  bondage 

of  the  body.  On  February  18,  1688, 
Gerrit  Hendricks,  Derick  Op  den  Graff,  Francis  Daniel 
Pastorius  and  Abraham  Op  den  Graff  met  in  the  house 
of  Thones  Kunders,  it  is  supposed,  and  drew  up,  so 
far  as  is  known  the  first  public  protest  against  the 
holding  of  slaves  on  record  in  America.  This  remon- 
strance begins  immediately  with  the  reasons  for  their 
opposition  to  "the  traffick  in  menbody." 

Those  who  hold  slaves  are  no  better  than  the  Turks. 
Rather  it  is  worse  for  them,  which  say  they  are 
Christians;  for  we  hear  that  ye  most  part  of  such 
Negers  are  brought  hither  against  their  will  and  consent, 
and  that  many  of  them  are  stolen.  Now  though  they  are 
black,  we  cannot  conceive  there  is  more  liberty  to  have 
them  slaves  as  it  is  to  have  other  white  ones.  There  is  a 
saying  that  we  shall  doe  to  all  men  licke  as  we  will  be  done 
ourselves:  macking  no  difference  of  what  generation,  de- 
scent or  colour  they  are.     And  those  who  buy  or  purchase 


60.  Christopher    Dock,    the    pioneer    Pennsylvania    schoolmaster,    taught 

school    here    for    a    number    of    years. 

61.  Bean,    History    of   Montgomery    County.    101. 


GERMANTOWN  121 

them,  are  they  not  all  alicke?  Here  is  liberty  of  Conscience 
which  is  right  and  reasonable,  here  ought  to  be  likewise 
liberty  of  ye  body,  except  of  evil  doers,  which  is  an  other 
case.  But  to  bring  men  hither,  or  to  robb  and  sell  them 
against  their  will,  we  stand  against.  In  Europe  there  are 
many  oppressed  for  conscience  sacke:  and  here  there  are 
those  oppressed  which  are  of  black  Colour. ^^ 

The  Mennonites  of  .Europe  evidently  had  inquired 
regarding  the  Quaker  practice  of  holding  slaves,  for 
the  protest  adds — 

This  makes  an  ill  report  in  all  those  countries  of  Europe 
(Holland  and  Germany)  where  they  hear  ofif,  that  ye  Quackers 
do  here  handel  men,  Licke  they  handel  there  ye  cattle  and  for 
that  reason  some  have  no  mind  or  inclination  to  come 
hither.  But  if  they  help  to  stop  this  robbing  and  stealing  if 
possible  and  such  men  ought  to  be  delivered  out  of  ye  hands 
of  ye  Robbers  and  set  free  as  well  as  Europe.  Then  is 
Pennsilvania  to  have  a  good  report,  instead  it  hath  now  a 
bad  one  for  this  sacke  in  other  Countries.  Especially  whereas 
ye  Europeans  are  desirous  to  know  in  what  manner  ye 
Quackers  doe  rule  in  their  Province  and  most  of  them  doe 
loock  upon  this  with  an  envious  eye.  But  if  this  is  done  well, 
what  shall  we  say,  is  don  evil? 

This  document,  which  appears  in  the  handwriting 
of  Pastorius,  was  carried  by  Derick  Op  den  Grafif  to 
the  Quaker  Monthly  Meeting  held  at  Dublin,  (Pa.)  on 
"ye  30 — 2  mo  of  1688."  The  Dublin  meeting,  however, 
considered  the  matter  of  too  great  importance  "to  med- 
dle with  it  here"  and  referred  it  to  the  Quarterly  Meet- 
ing. When  the  Quarterly  Meeting  came  together  at 
Philadelphia  the  protest  met  the  same  fate.  It  was  re- 
commended to  the  Yearly  Meeting,  and  that  is  the  last 
action  taken  upon  it.     The  Quakers,  in  spite  of  the 


62.     Pa.  Mag.  of  Hist.,  IV.  28. 


122  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

good  service  they  later  rendered  in  the  cause  of  human 
freedom,  were  not  yet  quite  ready  to  declare  in  favor 
of  total  abolition. 

Both  Mennonites  and  Quakers  claim  the  credit 
of  the  authorship  of  this  document.  The  Quakers 
maintain  that  it  was  sent  to  their  Monthly  and  Quar- 
terly meetings  and  that  the  original  signers  were  all 
Quakers.  This  latter  portion  of  their  claim  can  cer- 
tainly not  be  substantiated. 

It  is  true  that  Derick  Op  den  Grafif  was  a  Quaker 
in  1688,  and  that  his  brother  Abraham  was  also  in- 
clined to  accept  that  faith  at  the  time,  although  he 
later  again  identified  himself  with  the  Mennonites. 
But  on  the  other  hand  Pastorius,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  cannot  be  counted  a  Quaker,  while  Hendricks, 
whose  name  heads  the  list  of  signers,  remained  true 
to  the  Mennonite  faith  throughout  his  life. 

But  had  all  of  them  been  Quakers  at  this  time, 
the  protest  would  still  have  to  be  considered  more  of  a 
Mennonite  than  a  Quaker  document.  In  the  first; 
place  three  of  the  signers  had  been  brought  up  in  the 
Mennonite  faith  and  owed  their  abhorrence  of  human 
slavery  to  their  German  blood  and  to  their  Mennonite, 
and  not  Quaker  training.  In  the  second  place  it  must 
be  remembered  that  the  Mennonites  never  held  slaves, 
but  the  English  Quakers  did.  So  late  as  1696  the 
Yearly  Meeting  of  Philadelphia  advised  Friends  to  be 
careful  to  bring  their  slaves  to  meeting  and  to  have 
■meeting  with  them  in  their  families.^^  It  must  also 
not  be  forgotten  that  the  Yearly  Meeting  in  1688  re- 


63.     Davis.   History  of   Bucks   Co.,  p.   795. 


GERMANTOWN  123 

fused  to  act  on  the  protest.  It  is  perfectly  clear  that 
this  appeal  was  made  to  the  Quakers  against  a  practice 
which  was  common  among  them,  and  that  it  was  made 
as  a  result  of  Mennonite  influence.  To  the  Mennon- 
ites  then,  it  would  seem,  should  belong  the  credit  for 
uttering  this  first  public  protest  against  "the  traffick 
in  menbody." 

The  incorporation  of  the  village  of  Germantown 
is  of  interest  to  the  student  of  political  science®*  as 
well  as  to  the  student  of  Mennonite 
Incorporation  history :  to  the  former  because  German- 
of  Germantown  town  was  the  first  example  in  Pennsyl- 
vania of  the  borough  type  of  govern- 
ment, the  common  form  of  local  administration  in  the 
later  history  of  the  province ;  to  the  latter,  because  it 
is  one  of  the  fevv  times  that  the  Mennonites  in  America 
had  the  opportunity  to  test  the  feasibility  of  non- 
resistant  principles  when  applied  to  the  establishing 
of  a  civil  government.  Here  we  have  a  group  of  men^ 
all  of  whom  inherit  the  Mennonite  prejudice  against 
the  holding  of  civil  office  and  the  use  of  physical  force 
in  any  form  whatever  when  applied  to  government ; 
they  ask  for  separate  incorporation  which  implies  the 
establishing  of  a  complete  list  of  civil  officers,  the  ma- 
chinery for  the  making  of  laws,  and  courts  for  execut- 
ing them.  Theory  and  practice  were  completely  in- 
consistent with  one  another,  and  it  was  inevitable  that 
an  attempt  to  harmonize  the  two  should  end  in  failure. 

The  charter  for  the  borough  was  obtained  from 
Penn  in  1689  but  did  not  go  into  effect  until  1691.  It 
was  granted   to  a  corporation   composed   of  a   small 


64.     See  Johns  Hopkins  Studies,  V. 


124  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

« 

body  of  men  to  whom  was  given  a  limited  power  of 
government  and  opens  with  these  words — 

I,  William  Penn,  Proprietor  of  the  province  of  Pensilvania  in 
America  under  the  Imperial  Crown  of  Great  Britian,  by- 
virtue  of  Letters  Patent  under  the  great  Seale  of  England 
DO  grant  unto  ffrancis  Daniel  Pastorius,  Civilian  and  Jacob 
Telner,  Merchant,  Dirck  Isaacs  Optegrafif  Linenmaker,  Her- 
man Isaacs  Optegraff,  Towne  President,  Tennis  (?)  (Den- 
nis or  Tliones  Konders)  Abraham  Isaacs  Optegraff  Linen 
Maker,  Jacob  Isaacs,  Johannes  Cassell,  Heywait  Hapon 
(Hiefert  Papen)  Coender  Plerman  Bon  (Cornelius  Herman 
Bom)  Dirk  Van  Kolk,  all  of  Germantowne,  yeomen  that  they 
shall  be  one  Body  politique  and  corporate  aforesaid  in  name 
etc.^^ 

To  these  men  was  given  the  exclusive  right  of 
managing  the  affairs  of  the  village,  of  electing  all 
necessary  officers  and  of  admitting 

such  and  so  many  persons  into  their  corporation  and  society 
and  to  increase,  contract,  or  divide  theire  Joynt  stock  or  any 
part  thereof   ....   as  they  shall  think  fitt. 

The  officers  provided  for  by  the  charter  were  a  bailiff, 
four  burgesses  and  six  committee  men.  To  these  were 
added  later,  a  recorder,  clerk,  sheriff  and  coroner. 
("Leichenbeschauer.")  A  General  Court  was  to  "gov- 
ern and  direct  all  the  affairs  and  business  of  the  said 
corporation."     In  the  words  of  the  charter  they 

shall  have  power  to  make,  ordain,  constitute  and  establish 
so  many  good  and  reasonable  Laws,  Ordinances  and  Consti- 
tucons  as  they  shall  deeme  necessary  and  convenient  for  the 
good  Government  of  the  said  Corporacon  and  theire  affairs, 
and  at  theire  pleasure  to  revoke,  alter  and  make  anew  as  occa- 
sion shall  require — And  also  to  impose  and  set  such  mulcts 


65.     See  Pa.  Arch.,  p.  Ill  for  charter  in  full. 


GERMANTOWN  125 

and  amerciaments  upon  the  breakers  of  such  Laws  and  Ordi- 
nances as  in  their  Discrecon  shall  bee  thought  necessary. 

The  form  of  government  here  provided  for,  it  will 
be  seen,  was  that  of  a  close  corporation.  The  corporate 
members  were  granted  the  exclusive  right  of  the 
franchise,  of  legislation  and  of  admitting  new  members 
into  the  corporation. 

The  charter  named  the  first  officers.  Francis 
Daniel  Pastorius  was  the  first  bailiff;  Jacob  Telner, 
Dirck  Isaac  Op  te  Graaf,  Herman  Op  te  Graaf,  and 
Isaac  Op  te  Graaf,  Jacob  Isaacs  (Van  Bebber), 
"Tennis  Coender"  the  first  burgesses;  and  Abraham 
Johannes  Kassel,  Heywart  Haypon,  Herman  Bom 
and  Dirck  Van  Kolk  the  first  committeemen.  These 
officials  were  to  constitute  the  General  Court.  The 
judicial  functions  were  placed  in  the  hands  of 
a  Court  of  Record  which  was  composed  of  the 
bailiff  and  the  two  oldest  burgesses,  who  as  in- 
dividuals were  also  to  serve  as  Justices  of  the  Peace. 
This  court  was  to  be  held  every  six  weeks  and  was  to 
determine 

all  civill  causes,  matters,  and  things  whatsoever  arising  or 
happening  betwixt  the  Inhabitants  of  the  said  Corporacon, 
according  to  the  Laws  of  the  said  Province  and  of  the 
Kingdom  of  England,  reserving  the  appeal  according  to  the 
same. 

Our  chief  interest  for  the  purposes  of  our  story  is 
centered  in  the  proceedings  of  the  Court  of  Record. 
This  court  was  by  no  means  a  useless  institution,, 
though  for  several  years  it  was  concerned  chiefly  with 
litigation  relating  to  stray  pigs,  fences,  and  such  other 
trivial  matters  as  are  likely  to  become  causes  for  dis- 
pute between  neighbors  in  a  primitive  settlement.    The 


126  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

promptings  of  the  non-resistant  spirit  were  evidently 
not  always  followed  to  their  logical  result,  for  in  1693 
we  find  Pastorius,  the  Pietist,  and  Shumaker,  the  Quak- 
er, asking  in  the  General  Court  that  "stocks  for  evil  do- 
ers" might  be  erected.  Aret  Klincken,  a  brother  Quak- 
er, delivered  the  stocks.  In  1697  Klincken's  house  was 
converted  into  a  temporary  prison  house,  and  at  the 
same  session  it  was  decreed  that  all  punishment  im- 
posed in  the  past  should  be  annulled  but  for  the  future 
all  decrees  were  to  be  strictly  enforced. 

The  first  Court  of  Record''*'  was  held  August  6, 
1691,  in  the  common  meeting  house  which,  as  was  the 
custom  in  many  places  in  early  colonial  times,  served 
the  double  purpose  of  a  church  building  and  a  city  hall. 
Pastorius  was  bailiff,  and  Jacob  Telner,  Derick  Opden 
Graff  and  Herman  Opden  Graff  as  the  three  oldest 
burgesses  constituted  the  court.  In  addition  to  these 
there  were  present,  Isaac  Jacobs  Van  Bebber,  recorder; 
Paul  Wulf,  clerk;  Andrew  Souple,  sheriff,  and  John 
Luken,  constable.  All  of  these  with  the  exception 
of  the  ever-present  Pastorius,  and  the  Sheriff  were 
either  Mennonites  or  Mennonite-Quakers.^'^ 

The  rulings  of  the  Court  are  not  without  interest 
and  throw  some  light  on  the  every  day  life  of  the 
settlement.  The  following  extracts  are  characteristic 
of   much   of  the   work  of  the   Court   and   show  that 


66.  For   a   brief   discussion    of   the   proceedings   of   the    Court   of   Record 

see  Seidensticker,  Eilder  aus  der  Deutsch  Pennsylvanischen  Geschichte, 
p.  55,  and  following.  For  a  few  extracts  from  the  laws  of  the 
General  Court  see  Pa.  Ger.  Soc.  Proceedings  X.  The  complete 
records  of  the  Court  of  Record  in  the  original  German  are  now 
deposited  in  the  Pennsylvania  State  Historical  Society  Library  in 
Philadelphia. 

67.  By    Mennonite-Quakers    I    mean    those    ^lennonites    who    had    turned 

Quaker  either  in   Europe  or  America. 


"GERMANTOWN  127 

occasionally   even   the   Mennonites   were   inclined   to 
forget  the  letter  of  the  law. 

The  first  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  the 
sheriff,  who  read  the  proclamation  and  saw  that  the 
officers  were  properly  installed.««  The  Court  fined 
one  Carsten  for  menacing  Constable  Luken,  who  at- 
tempted to  serve  a  warrant  on  him.  The  fine  was 
two  pounds  and  ten  shillings.  The  Court  then  ad- 
journed. 

December  21,  1692.— 

Court  adjourned  by  reason  of  the  absence  of  some  for 
religious  meeting  over  the  Schuylkill. 
October  25,  1694.— 69 

Jacob    Isaacs'O    and    Albertus    Brand    were    called    into 
court  and  told  that  because  their  fences  were  presented  in- 
sufficient each  of  them  was  finable  six  shillings. 
March  7,  1695.— 

Peter  Keurlis  was  attested  why  he  did  not  come  when 
the  justice  sent  for  him:  he  answered  he  had  much  work  to 
do  whereupon  he  was  further  attested  why  he  refused  to  lodge 
travellers  (?)  Answer,  he  only  intended  to  sell  drink  but  not 
keep  an  ordinary.  Then  he  was  attested  why  he  did  not  sell 
barley  malt  beer  at  4d.  a  quart  against  the  law  of  this  pro- 
vmce?  Answer,  he  did  not  know  such  a  law.  Lastly  he  was 
asked  why  he  would  not  obey  the  law  of  Germantown  cor- 
poration which  forbids  to  sell  more  than  a  gill  of  rum  or  a 
quart  of  beer  every  half  a  day  to  each  individual?  Answer, 
they  being  able  to  bear  more,  he  could  or  would  not  obey. 
September  10,  1696.— 

Overseers  of  fences  reported  as  insufficient  the  fences 
of  Herman  Opden  Grafif,  Abraham  Opden  Graff,  Isaac  Jacobs 
an4  others.     But  Herman  Van   Bom  and  Johannes   Umstat 

68.  Both   Quakers   and   Mennonites. 

69.  Of  course  elections  were  frequently  held  and  the  officers  first  named 

were   soon   succeeded  by  others. 

70.  Van  Bebber 


128  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

pretending   they    did    not   know   the    several    fences    in   their 
quarter  refused  to  perform  their  duty. 

July  9,  1700.— 

Abraham  Opden  Graf?  and  Peter  Keurlis  were  sent  for 
to  answer  complaints  made  against  their  children  by  Daniel 
Fallkner,''!  but  the  said  Abraham  Opden  Graff  being  not  well 
and  Peter  Keurlis  gone  to  Philadelphia  this  matter  was  left 
to  next  session. 

John   Lensen   appeared   in   this   court   excusing   himself 
from  serving  as  committeeman  because  his  conscience  would 
not  allow  it,  hereof  the  next  General  court  shall  consider  and 
make  an  order  concerning  like  excuses."^ 
December  9,   1701.— 

All    the    inhabitants    of    Germantown    shall    make    their 
fences  good  and  lawful  within  three  weeks  and  set  posts  in 
the  ground  with  their  names  upon  both  their  side  fences  and 
those  which  are  behind  the  lots. 
November  11,  1701.— 

John   Lensen   gave   over  with   the   assent   of  the   court 
keeping   an    ordinary   and    Peter    Keurlis    promised    in   open 
court    to    keep    a    good   and    regular   ordinary    in    this    town 
whereof  the  town  does  allow. 
December  28,  1703.— 

Abraham  Opden  Grafif"^  did  mightily  abuse  the  bailiflf^* 
in  open  court  wherefore  he  was  brought  out  of  it  to  answer 
for  the  same  at  the  next  Court  of  Record. 
December  8,  1704. 

Hermanus  Kuster  fined  ten  shillings  for  not  appearing- 
as  a  juryman. 
April  18,  1704.— 

Jacob  Gaetschalck  and  John  Lensen  say  they  will  not 


71.  Lutheran  preacher. 

72.  "The  General  Court  decreed  that  those  having  conscientious  scruples 

would  be  excused.     Those  not  having  but  refusing  were  fined  three 
pounds." — Seidensticker. 

73.  Opden  Graff  seemed  to  be  unusually  quarrelsome.     He  was  an  active 

participant   in   the   Keith   controversy   and  was  much   in   public  life 
having  twice  been  elected  to  the  General  Assembly. 

74.  Aret  Klincken. 


GERMANTOWN  129 

betray  their  neighbors,  especially  John  Lensen,  therefore  the 
court  appointed  in  his  room  Leonart  Arets.'^^ 

October  3,  1704.— 

Abraham   Opden   Graff  sued   David  Sherkes  for  saying 
that  no  honest  man  would  be  in  his  company. 

Dirk  Keyser  Sr.  and  Jr.  and  Van  Vossen  were  among 
the  jurymen.  The  Jury  returned  a  verdict  in  favor  of 
the  defendent.'^® 

The  last  Court  of  Record  was  held  December 
11,  1706-7,  and  the  last  General  Court  on  December 
2,  of  the  same  year.  Soon  after  the  borough 
lost  its  charter  for  want  of  an  election  to  fill  the 
offices.  The  village  was  governed  after  this  by  the 
ordinary  laws  of  the  township  until  finally  absorbed  by 
the  city  of  Philadelphia. 

The  loss  of  the  charter  was  due  largely  to  the 
fact  that  the  Mennonites  had  very  little  taste  for  civil 
government.  At  first  so  long  as  the  matter  of  local 
government  was  hardly  more  than  the  regulating  of 
the  family  affairs  of  the  brotherhood  there  seemed 
to  be  little  objection  to  the  holding  of  office.  Out  of 
eleven  of  the  first  officers  named  in  the  charter  six  and 
probably  seven  were  Mennonites  while  four  of  the 
remaining  five  were  Mertnonite-Quakers.  But  the  vil- 
lage grew  in  numbers.  Many  came  in  who  were  not 
in  sympathy  with  Mennonite  ideals.  The  making  of 
laws  and  the  administering  of  justice  became  more 


75.  In  a  jury  in   a  law   suit. 

76.  It  must  be  remembered  that  only  such  proceedings  of  the  court  are 

here  selected  as  concern  the  Mennonites  and  their  relatives.  They 
were  by  no  means  the  only  source  of  trouble  and  cause  for  legal 
proceedings  in   the   little   village. 


130  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

complicated.  With  the  coming  in  of  stocks  and  prison- 
houses  the  Mennonites  lost  their  desire  for  politics. 
The  offices  were  filled  more  and  more  by  either  Men- 
nonite-Quakers  or  by  the  Quakers,  who  seem  never 
to  have  shared  the  prejudice  of  the  Mennonites  against 
the  holding  of  civil  ofifice.  These  two  denominations 
in  theory  held  similar  views  in  their  attitude  toward 
the  temporal  power;  both  objected  to  the  oath  and  to 
war.  The  Mennonites,  however,  carried  out  the  prin- 
ciple of  non-resistance  farther  than  the  Quakers  and 
maintained  that  it  was  wrong  to  use  force  against  the 
individual,  and  hence  to  be  consistent  no  Mennonite 
could  hold  an  office  which  involved  the  use  of  physical 
force  in  the  execution  of  the  laws.  For  this  reason 
we  have  here  the  unparalleled  instance  of  a  corporation 
losing  its  charter  because  no  one  could  be  found  to  fill 
the  offices. 

As  early  as  1701  Pastorius  in  writing  to  Penn  said 
that  he  could  not  get  men  to  serve  in  the  General  Court 
for  "conscience  sake"  and  he  trusted  for  a  remedy  in 
an  expected  arrival  of  immigrants.'^^  Hiefert  Papen 
had  declined  to  be  a  burgess  in  1701.  In  1702  Cor- 
nelius Siverts  had  refused  to  serve,  and  Paul  Engle  in 
1703.  John  Lensen  and  Arnold  Kuster  declined  to  be 
committeemen  in  1702.  Others  declined  to  serve  in 
similar  capacities.  But  why  were  not  the  offices  filled 
by  non-Mennonites?  The  Mennonites  in  1707  were 
certainly  outnumbered  by  those  who  were  not  in  sym- 
pathy with  their  civil  and  religious  principles.  The 
charter  it  will  be  remembered  put  the  government 
into  the  hands  of  a  close  corporation.    This  corporation 


77.     Hazard,  Register,   I.  280. 


GERMANTOWN  131 

began  predominantly  Mennonite,  and  although  later 
the  Mennonites  declined  to  serve  as  officials,  they  did 
not  hesitate  to  exercise  the  franchise.  They  and  the 
Mennonite-Quakers,  who  had  never  quite  forgotten 
their  early  training  in  Europe,  held  the  controlling 
vote  and  were  very  careful  not  to  admit  those  into  the 
corporation  who  were  opposed  to  their  principles.  The 
offices  were  handed  about  to  a  group  of  men  who  from 
year  to  year  held  the  various  positions  of  influence  in 
rotation.  Although  the  Quakers  held  most  of  these 
positions  during  the  later  years,  yet  the  Mennonite 
leaven  was  strong  enough  to  control  the  political  senti- 
ment in  the  corporation.  The  loss  of  the  charter  was 
due  to  Mennonite,  not  Quaker,  influence. 

The  remaining  history  of  the  Germantown  church 
can  be  dismissed  with  few  words.  Immigrants  contin- 
ued to  come  to  America,  but  most  of  them  being  agri- 
culturists, they  passed  the  first  settlement  by  for  more 
promising  locations  on  the  Skippack  or  the  Conestoga. 
The  congregation  was  never  large  and  seems  never  to 
have  been  in  a  prosperous  condition.  It  continued, 
however,  for  a  good  many  years;  but  we  get  only 
occasional  glimpses  of  its  life  and  activities.  The  old 
log  building  was  replaced  by  the  present  stone  struc- 
ture in  1770,  and  at  that  time  the  congregation  num- 
bered twenty-five.^»  In  a  letter  of  October  27,  1796, 
from  Jacob  Oberholtzer  of  Franconia  to  Abraham 
Kolb  of  Germantown  Township,  he  states  that  lots  had 
been  drawn  for  ministers  to  serve  the  congregation 
for  the  coming  year.  This  indicates  that  there  was 
no  resident  minister  here  at  that  time  and  that  only  one 


78.     N.   B.   Grubb,  the  Mennonite  Church  of  Germantown. 


132  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

preaching  service  per  month  was  heldJ^  The  congre- 
gation finally  became  extinct  but  was  revived  again 
in  1863  under  the  pastorate  of  F.  R.  S.  Hunsicker.  It 
is  at  present  under  the  control  of  the  General  Confer- 
ence Mennonites  and  has  nineteen  members. 

Insignificant,  however,  as  the  later  history  of  the 
Germantown  church  may  seem  in  itself,  it  has  never- 
theless  indirectly   exerted   no   mean 
Influence  of  influence   both   upon   the   Mennonite 

the  Germantown  church  at  large  and  indirectly  upon 
Congregation  the    civil    and    religious    history    of 

Pennsylvania.  In  the  house  of  Van 
Bebber  was  held  in  1690  the  first  service  of  the  German 
Lutherans  in  America,  and  at  least  ten  of  the  promi- 
nent churches  of  Philadelphia  including  one  Evangeli- 
cal, one  Presbyterian,  two  Episcopal  and  two  Lutheran 
were  first  organized  in  the  early  days  in  the  little 
Mennonite  meeting  house. ^°  Many  of  these  congre- 
gations drew  heavily  upon  the  Mennonites  for  their 
membership. 

In  the  civil  and  political  history  of  Pennsylvania 
also  we  find  many  names  with  which  we  have  been 
made  familiar  in  the  course  of  our  story.  In  1690 
William  Rittenhouse,  the  first  bishop,  erected  on  the 
Wissahickon  the  first  paper  mill  in  America.^^  Here  in 
1709  his  son  built  a  stone  house,  still  standing,  where 


79.  The  original  letter  is  in  the  possession  of  S.  W.   Pennypacker.     The 

facts  here  have  been  taken  from  a  photograph  of  the  original  taken 
by  N.  B.  Grubb  of  Philadelphia.  The  letter  contains  the  names  of 
twelve  of  the  ministers  of  the  Franconia  District  who  were  to 
preach  at  Germantown  during  the  year. 

80.  Per  N.  B.  Grubb,  pastor  of  First  Mennonite  Church  of  Philadelphia. 

81.  See  "The  Rittenhouse   Paper   Mill"  by   H.   G.   Jones  in   Pennsylvania 

State  Historical  Library.  The  old  mill  site  and  the  old  Rittenhouse 
"mansion"  on  the  banks  of  the  picturesque  Wissahickon  is  now  one 
of  the  places  of  interest  to  the  sight-seer  in   Fairmount  Park. 


GERMANTOWN  133 

in  1732  was  born  his  great-grandson  David,^^  ^ho 
became  a  celebrated  philosopher  and  astronomer  of 
his  day,  the  respected  friend  of  Benjamin  Franklin  and 
Thomas  Jeflferson.  He  was  a  prominent  member  of 
the  Assembly  during  the  Revolutionary  war  and  was 
appointed  first  director  of  the  United  States  mint  by 
President  Washington.^=* 

Another  prominent  Mennonite  was  Heinrich 
Pennebecker,  many  of  whose  descendants  have  become 
well  known  in  Pennsylvania  history.  He  was  the  first 
German  surveyer  employed  by  Penn  in  the  province. 
Among  a  long  list  of  distinguished  men  bearing  the 
name  Pennypacker  is  the  recent  governor  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  Isaac  S.  Pennypacker  some  time  United 
States  Senator  from  Virginia.®*  Space  will  not  permit 
to  speak  of  the  Keysers,  Updegraves,  Cassels,  and 
Van  Bebbers  but  all  of  them  could  boast  of  a  long 
line  of  men  who  have  occupied  positions  of  trust  and 
influence  in  church  and  state. 


82.  D.   K.   Cassel,   Family  Record  of  David  Rittenhouse. 

83.  William   Barton,   Memoirs  of   David  Rittenhouse. 

84.  "Of    the    descendants    of    old    Hendrick    Pennebecker,    27    have    been 

lawyers,  including  three  District  Attorneys,  one  president  of  a 
law  academy  and  assistant  editor  of  a  legal  journal,  and  five  judges: 
Isaac  S.,  long  a  judge  of  the  U.  S.  District  Court,  became  Senator 
from  Virginia."— S.  W.  Pennypacker,  in  The  Pennypacker  Reunion, 
1877.     p.  31. 


CHAPTER  V 


THE  PEQUEA  COLONY 

The  German  immigration  into  Pennsylvania,  and 
especially  Mennonite  immigration,  for  the  first  twenty 
years  was  not  very  large.  The  first  settlers,  as  we  have 
seen,  came  largely  from  the  Lower  Rhine  country. 
But  in  1710  began  a  second  and  much  greater  wave, 
which  during  the  next  seventy  five  years  was  to  bring 
in  round  numbers  nearly  100,000  Germans  into  the 
province,  and  which  was  to  form  the  basis  of  that 
picturesque  element  of  the  population  of  Pennsylvania 
which  we  today  know  as  the  Pennsylvania  Dutch. 
These  people  came  from  the  Upper  Rhine  country, 
the  region  called  the  Palatinate,  including,  roughly 
speaking,  the  southwestern  part  of  present  Germany. 
Among  the  first  to  arrive  was  a  small  colony  of  Men- 
nonites  who  located  on  the  banks  of  the  Pequea,  a 
branch  of  the  Susquehanna  in  what  is  now  Lancaster 
county. 

In  order  to  understand  the  causes  of  this  steady 
inflow  of  the  Palatines  it  is  necessary  that  we  know 
something  about  the  conditions  prevailing  at  that  time 


THE   PEQUEA   COLONY  135 

in  the  land  from  which  they  came.    During  the  greater 
part  of  the  seventeenth  century  there 
Unrest  in  the       had    been    much    distress    and    unrest 
Palatinate  among   the    people    of   the    Palatinate, 

due  very  largely  to  the  wars  and  re- 
ligious disturbances  of  the  period.  This  region,  situ- 
ated as  it  was,  on  the  borders  between  France  and  the 
German  states,  in  the  very  heart  of  Europe,  was  made 
the  battlefield  for  many  of  the  great  wars  of  the 
century.  Throughout  the  entire'  Thirty  Years'  War 
the  armies  of  the  opposing  parties  played  havoc  with 
the  lives  and  possessions  of  the  wretched  Palatines. 
The  year  1638  marked  the  climax  of  their  misery. 
Rapine,  plunder  and  fire  were  follovv'ed  by  famine  and 
pestilence.    The  people 

tried  to  satisfy  hunger  with  roots,  grass  and  leaves;  even 
cannibalism  became  more  or  less  frequent.  The  gallows  and 
the  graveyards  had  to  be  guarded;  the  bodies  of  children 
were  not  safe  from  their  mothers.  So  great  was  the  desola- 
tion that  where  once  flourished  farms  and  vineyards,  now 
whole  bands  of  wolves  roamed  unmolested. ^ 

The  Thirty  Years'  War  was  followed  not  many  years 
afterward  by  the  famous  campaigns  of  Louis  XIV, 
who  in  1688,  in  order  to  starve  out  his  enemies,  ordered 
his  generals  to  devastate  the  Palatinate,  a  command 
which  was  carried  out  to  the  letter,-     This  war  was 


1.  Kuhns,    German   and    Swiss    Settlements   of    Pa.,    p.    9. 

2.  The  following  extracts   from  Macauley  refers  to  an  incident  in  one  of 

these  campaigns. 

"The  commander  announced  to  near  half  a  million  human  beings 
that  he  granted  them  three  days  of  grace,  and  that  within  that 
time  they  must  shift  for  themselves.  Soon  the  roads  and  fields, 
which  then  lay  deep  in  snow,  were  blackened  by  innumerable  mul- 
titudes of  men,  women  and  children  fleeing  from  their  homes 

Meanwhile  the  work  of  destruction  went  on.     The  flames  went  up 


136  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

closed  by  the  treaty  of  Ryswick  in  1698,  but  it  was 
many  years  before  the  Palatinate  recovered  from  these 
devastations. 

It  was  during  this  same  time  that  the  religious 
question  became  a  serious  menace  to  the  peace  of  the 
province.  The  Treaty  of  Westphalia  had  provided  that 
each  Prince  was  to  determine  the  religion  of  his  people. 
Up  to  1685  the  Electors  were  either  Lutherans  or 
Calvinists,  but  in  that  year  a  Catholic  once  more  came 
into  possession  of  the  Electorate.  Then  there  began 
a  systematic  policy  of  Protestant  extermination. 
Lutherans  and  Reformed,  who  were  by  far  the  most 
numerous  in  the  province,  were  deprived  of  their  lands 
and  churches.  Mennonites,  Walloons,  and  Huguenots, 
who  had  found  a  refuge  in  the  Palatinate  for  many 
years  were  now  driven  out  of  the  land.  It  was  con- 
ditions such  as  these  together  with  the  impoverish- 
ment of  the  country  resulting  from  the  many  wars, 
that  paved  the  way  for  the  great  Palatine  emigration 
to  America  and  other  places  during  the  first  half  of 
the  eighteenth  century. 

No  attempt  on  a  large  scale  was  made,  however, 
by  the  people  who  were  oppressed  to  leave  their  native 
land  until  1709.  But  during  this  year  a  perfect  flood 
of  Palatines  poured  into  London  expecting  help  from 
the  English  government  to  cross  the  Atlantic.  Two 
causes  may  be  mentioned  among  others  for  this  sudden 


from  every  market  place,  every  parish  church,  every  country  seat 
within  the  devoted  province.  The  fields  where  the  corn  had  been 
sown  were  plowed  up.  The  orchards  were  hewn  down.  No  promise 
of  a  harvest  was  left  on  the  fertile  plains  near  what  had  been 
Frankenthal.  Not  a  vine,  not  an  almond  tree  was  to  be  seen  on 
the  slopes  of  the  sunny  hills  round  what  had  once  been  Heidelberg." 
Macauley,  III.   112. 


THE   PEQUEA   COLONY  137 

desire  at  this  particular  time  to  seek  homes  in  a  new- 
country.  In  the  first  place  the  winter  of  1708-9  was 
unusually  cold  and  severe  throughout  Europe,  in- 
creasing the  distress  and  hardships  of  the  poor  people.' 
In  the  second  place  Queen  Anne  had  for  several  years 
been  actively  trying  to  get  colonists  for  her  unoccupied 
possessions  in  America  and  had  sent  her  agents  to  the 
Palatinate  for  this  purpose.  This  together  with  the 
conditions  previously  described,  may  explain  the  sud- 
den German  inundation  of  the  city  of  London  in  the 
summer  of  1709.*  The  English  government  was  at  a 
loss  at  first  to  know  what  to  do  with  such  a  large 
number  of  foreigners  but  made  the  best  of  the  situa- 
tion. Several  thousand  were  sent  to  Ireland.  Some 
were  sent  to  North  Carolina;  others  to  New  York. 
A  few  remained  in  England.  Some  died ;  others  were 
sent  back  to  Germany.  Many  in  after  years  found 
their  way  to  Pennsylvania.* 

Thus  far  we  have  been  speaking  of  general  con- 
ditions which  affected  all,  and  especially  all  non- 
Catholics,  alike.  So  much  of  a  background  is  neces- 
sary for  an  understanding  of  our  story."'  But  we  are 
concerned  here  only  with  the  Mennonites  and  it  is 
to  them  that  we  now  turn  with  special  reference  to 


2.     "It  was  so  cold  that  the  birds  froze  in  the  air  and  the  wild  beasts  in 
the  forest."     Loher,  Geschichte  der  Deutschen  in  Amerika,  p.  42. 

4.  The    story    of   the    German    emigration    of    1709    is    told    in    detail    by 

F.  R.  Diffenderfer  in  the  "German  Exodus  to  England  in  1709," 
in   Pa.   Ger.  Soc.   Proceedings,  VII. 

5.  There  are  several  good  histories  of  the   Palatinate,   any  one  of  which 

will  describe  the  condition  of  the  country  during  this  period.  A 
very  good  brief  account  of  the  general  European  background  of 
the  Palatine  emigration  is  found  in  chapter  1  of  Kuhns,  German 
and  Swiss  Settlements  of  Pennsylvania.  See  also  a  letter  written  by 
Benedict  Brechbuhl  in  1714  quoted  by  Miiller,  in  Geschichte  der 
Bernischen    Taufer,    Chapter    12. 


138  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

their  experiences  in  the  Palatinate  and  in  Switzerland, 
immediately  before  and  after  the  emigration  of  1709. 

The  Mennonites  had  still  other  reasons  in  addition 
to  those  just  named  for  leaving  their  homes  in  these 
regions  at  this  time.  As  we  have 
Swiss  Mennonites  already  seen  up  to  1685  they  had 
under  Persecution  been  at  least  tolerated  in  the  Pala- 
tinate. But  in  Switzerland  through- 
out the  latter  half  of  the  seventeenth  century  they  had 
been  severely  oppressed.  Because  of  their  refusal  to 
bear  arms  and  to  take  the  oath,  they  were  exiled,  sent 
to  the  galleys,  robbed  of  their  property,  imprisoned, 
and  occasionally  put  to  death.  As  a  result  of  these 
conditions  many  had  found  their  way  into  the  Palatin- 
ate before  1709.  The  Swiss  Mennonites  were  found 
principally  in  the  cantons  of  Berne,  Zurich  and  Schaff- 
hausen.  All  of  these  cantons  tried  to  exterminate 
them,  but  Berne  was  especially  oppressive.  And  since 
we  know  more  about  the  Mennonites  of  Berne,  thanks 
to  the  labors  of  Ernst  Miiller,  than  we  do  about  those 
of  the  other  parts  of  Switzerland,  and  since  Berne 
furnished  a  large  number  of  the  later  Swiss  immigrants, 
it  may  not  be  out  of  order  to  relate  briefly  the  experi- 
ence in  that  canton  of  many  who  later  became  citizens 
of  Pennsylvania. 

As  just  stated,  the  Bernese  as  well  as  other  Swiss 
Mennonites  had  been  imprisoned  and  exiled  all 
through  the  latter  half  of  the  seventeenth  and  the  first 
part  of  the  eighteenth  centuries.  Of  special  severity, 
however,  and  of  special  importance  for  our  story  were 
the  persecutions  of  the  years  1708-9-10-11.  The  Gov- 
ernment had  frequently  imprisoned  or  banished  those 


THE   PEQUEA   COLONY  139 

whom  they  could  lay  hands  on.^  But  since  they  kept 
back  the  wives  and  children  of  the  banished  ones,  the 
exiles  naturally  returned,  in  spite  of  the  threats  of  the 
authorities.  Finally  in  1709  it  was  decided  to  end  the 
matter  by  deporting  all  the  prisoners  then  in  custody^ 
about  fifty-four  in  number,  to  America. 

The  prisoners  were  finally  placed  on  board  a  ship 
in  charge  of  a  certain  Ritter,  and  on  March  18,  1710, 
the  voyage  began  down  the  Rhine.  Passports  had 
been  secured  from  France  and  other  states  that  bor- 
dered the  river.  In  the  meantime  the  representative 
of  the  Bernese  government  at  the  Hague  was  told  to 
secure  the  necessary  permission  from  the  government 
of  the  Netherlands  to  pass  through  that  country  and 
to  embark  at  Rotterdam.^  To  gain  permission  for 
transportation  proved  a  difficult  task.  There  were 
many  influential  Mennonites  in  the  Netherlands  who 
now,  as  they  often  had  done  before,  interested  them- 
selves in  their  Swiss  brethren.  St.  Saphorin,  the  Bern- 
ese representative,  instead  of  gaining  the  desired  per- 
mission was  told  by  the  States  General 

that  the  Mennonites  (in  Holland)  had  always  proved  them- 
selves good  subjects  and  that  they  (States  General)  therefore 
could  by  no  means  lend  a  hand  to  the  transportation  of  these 
people    to    America;     neither    could    they    do    anything    that 


In  the  meantime  the  Council  had  written  to  Zurich  to  learn  how  they 
rid  themselves  of  the  Mennonites,  whereupon  they  replied  that  they 
had  put  a  number  to  death ;  others  they  imprisoned ;  some  were 
forced  into  the  armies  in  the  war  against  the  French  while  still 
others  were  exiled  from  the  land."  Letter  of  Runkel,  the  envoy 
of  the  Netherlands  to  Bern  written  in  1710,  and  quoted  by  Miiller, 
257. 

For  information  regarding  the  Mennonites  of  Switzerland  during  this- 
period  I  have  relied  almost  entirely  on  Ernest  Miiller's  Gesch- 
ichte  der  Bernischen  Taufer.  For  thg  negotiations  between  Berne 
and  the  Netherlands  sec  Muller,  p.  261. 


140  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

might  in  any  way  be  interpreted  as  sanctioning  the  Bernese 
policy  toward   the   Mennonites. 

St.  Saphorin  hereupon  turned  to  the  English  am- 
bassador, Lord  Townsend,  in  the  hope  that  he  might 
use  his  influence  in  his,  St.  Saphorin's,  behalf  with  the 
States  General.  He  described  the  desirable  qualities 
in  the  Mennonites  as  colonists.  They  were  "very  good 
agriculturists,  industrious,  for  the  most  part  possessed 
of  some  means,"  and  since  the  transportation  would 
cost  the  English  government  nothing  the  advantage 
must  all  be  theirs.  Townsend,  however,  influenced  by 
the  Dutch  Mennonites,  decided  against  the  request  of 
St.  Saphorin.  Since  neither  passports  nor  permission 
for  transportation  were  to  be  had,  the  proposed  scheme 
of  Berne  to  get  rid  of  the  Mennonites  had  to  be 
abandoned. 

But  one  shipload  had  already  started  down  the 
Rhine.    Thirty-two  of  the  exiles,  the  old  and  sick  had 

been  left  at  Mannheim.  The  remaining 
Voyage  down  reached  Nimwegen  on  April  6.  Here 
the  Rhine  they  asked  permission  to  visit  some  of 

their  brethren  in  the  city,  which  per- 
mission was  granted.  They  were  now  on  free  soil 
and  since  the  Lower  Rhine  was  closed  to  Ritter  and 
his  cargo  he  left  his  prisoners  here  and  returned  to 
Berne.  Among  those  who  arrived  at  Nimwegen  were 
Benedicht  Brechbiihl,  a  bishop  from  Trachselwald, 
and  Hans  Burchi  from  Langnau.  These  two  men 
appeared  to  be  the  leading  men  among  the  Swiss 
Palatines  at  this  time.  Brechbiihl  later  came  to  Penn- 
sylvania and  was  one  of  the  ministers  from  Conestoga 
to  sign  the  confession  of  Faith  printed  in  1727.    The 


THE   PEQUEA   COLONY  141 

arrival  of  the  Swiss  at  Nimwegen  is  described  by  a 
contemporary  as  follows : 

Now  they  were  free,  for  which  we  rejoiced  with  them 
greatly  and  we  showed  them  every  manner  of  friendship 
and  love.  After  we  had  enjoyed  ourselves  together  for  a 
day  and  they  had  gained  much  strength  they  departed.  But 
they  could  hardly  walk,  for  their  joints  had  grown  stiff 
through  long  imprisonment.  Somfe  of  them  had  been  in 
prison  for  two  years  with  great  suffering,  especially  last 
winter  during  the  great  cold,since  their  feet  were  fettered  with 
iron  bands.  I  went  with  them  several  miles  out  of  the  town. 
We  embraced  one  another  weeping  and  parted  with  a  fare- 
well kiss  of  peace.  Thus  they  turned  their  steps  toward  the 
Palatinate  to  search  for  their  wives  and  children  who  were 
scatterd  there  ,  as  well  as  in  Switzerland  and  Alsace,  an(|. 
they  did  not  know  whither  they  had  been  sent.  They  were  in 
good  spirits  even  in  their  sorrow,  although  all  their  posses- 
sions had  been  taken  from  them.  There  were  among  them 
one  preacher  and  two  teachers.  They  were  a  very  sturdy 
people  by  nature  who  could  endure  hardships,  with  long 
untrimmed  beards,  with  plain  clothes,  and  heavy  shoes  shod 
with  heavy  iron  and  large  nails.  They  were  very  zealous  in 
serving  God  with  prayer,  reading  and  in  other  ways.  They 
were  very  simple  in  their  bearing,  like  lambs  and  doves  and 
asked  me  how  the  church  here  was  conducted.  I  told  them 
and  they  seemed  very  much  pleased.  But  we  could  speak 
with  them  only  with  difficulty.  For  they  had  lived  in  the 
mountains  of  Switzerland  far  from  villages  and  towns  and 
had  little  communication  with  other  people.  Thus  their 
speech  is  very  blunt  and  simple  and  they  could  with  difficulty 
speak  with  others  who  did  not  use  precisely  their  speech. 
Two  of  them  went  to  Deventer  to  see  whether  they  could 
support  themselves  in  this  land.^ 

Such  were  many  of  the  men  who  later  settled 
Lancaster  county. 


8.     Translated   from   Mullcr. 


142  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

This  letter  no  doubt  partly  answers  a  question 
which  the  reader  may  already  have  asked  himself, — 
Why  did  not  these  persecuted  Mennonites  eagerly 
seize  this  opportunity  of  transportation  to  America 
where  already  a  goodly  number  of  their  fellow  believ- 
ers had  built  homes  for  themselves?  This  question 
perhaps  may  not  be  difficult  to  answer  if  we  remember 
that  the  wives  and  children  of  these  men  had  been 
kept  back  in  Berne.  Furthermore,  as  St.  Saphorin 
said,  they  were  extremely  anxious,  since  Switzerland 
was  the  cradle  of  Anabaptism,  that  their  faith  should 
not  be  rooted  out  in  that  country.  In  addition  to  all 
this  we  must  not  forget  that  this  was  their  home  land 
which  in  spite  of  their  sufferings  remained  dear  to 
them. 

Many,  including  BrechbiJhl  and  Burchi  went  back 
to  Berne  and  were  again  imprisoned.  The  Bernese 
government  only  redoubled  its  energies  to  destroy 
them  entirely.  They  were  accused  of  refusing  to  bear 
arms  and  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance.  The  civil 
authorities,  however,  were  still  largely  under  the  in- 
fluence of  the  predominating  church.  The  Mennonites 
owe  their  bitter  experience  in  Switzerland  quite  as 
much  to  the  intolerant  spirit  of  the  Reformed  church 
as  to  the  suspicions  of  the  civil  magistrates.  Melchior 
Zahler  in  a  letter  written  in  1710  relates  that  when 
he  was  captured  he  was  taken  before  the  ecclesiastical 
authorities  of  the  parish  and  interrogated  regarding 
his  belief  on  the  following  questions :  Infant  baptism, 
the  oath,  the  ordinance  of  the  ban,  bearing  the  sword 
and  concerning  the  office  of  the  magistrate.  Most  of 
the  fines  and  confiscations  were  usually  appropriated 
by  the  Reformed  church.    At  Hiitwohl  they  used  500 


THE   PEQUEA   COLONY  143 

Gulden  of  Mennonite  fine  money  for  building  a  new 
church.  In  Roggwyl  the  money  was  used  for  church 
bells.    Zofingen  built  a  hospital  and  poor  house. 

The  persecutions  continued.  So  relentless  were 
the  Swiss  in  their  cruel  treatment  of  the  Mennonites 
that  Townsend  finally  interceded  in  their 
Continued  behalf  with  Queen  Anne  and  suggested 
Persecution  to  both  the  Anabaptists  and  Quakers  of 
at    Berne  England  that  they  assist  the  persecuted 

to  get  to  America.  The  king  of  Prussia 
invited  them  to  settle  in  his  own  territory.  The  States 
General  interceded  with  the  Bernese  government  for 
a  more  liberal  policy.  Finally  in  1711  those  in  prison 
were  allowed  their  freedom  on  condition  that  they 
pay  a  fine  and  with  their  families  and  friends  leave 
their  native  country. 

On  July  13,  1711,  four  ships,  loaded  with  several 
hundred   Mennonites   and   Amish'-*   began   once   more 

their  voyage  down  the  Rhine.  Miiller 
Exiled  gives    us    a    vivid    description    of    these 

from  Berne      Emmenthaler  and  Oberlander^"  exiles  as 

they  drifted   down  the  river 

and  their  homes  disappeared  behind  the  cathedral  spires  of 
Basle  and  the  wooded  hills  of  the  Jura.  Seated  upon  the 
chests  and  bundles  which  were  piled  up  in  the  middle  of  the 
vessels  were  the  grey-headed  men  and  women,  old  and  weak. 
On  the  sides  were  the  j^oung  people  watching  with  delight 
and  wonder  the  shifting  scenery  of  the  banks  as  they  glided 
by.  Now  hopeful,  now  troubled,  they  cast  questioning 
glances  to  the  North  and  then  with  longing  eyes  they  again 
turned  their  faces  to  the  South  in  the  direction  of  their  be- 


9.  In  1693  Jacob  Amman  headed  a  church  division,  since  called  the  Amish 

branch  of  the  church. 

10.  The  valleys  in   Switzerland  from  which  they  came. 


144  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

loved  homes  which  they  were  leaving  forever,  the  homes- 
which  had  so  basely  exiled  them  and  yet  the  homes  whose 
green  hills  and  silver  tipped  mountains  they  could  not  for- 
get. And  when  overcome  with  sorrow  some  one  began  a 
song  which  comforted  them. 

"O  Herr,  wir  thun  dich  bitten,  richt  unser  Herz  und 
GemiJth,  nach  deinem  heiligen  Wort,  durch  deine  grosze  Giit, 
Zund  du  in  unserm  Herzen  eine  reine  Liebe  an,  thu  fiir  uns 
wachen   und   streiten   sonst   mogen   wir   nit    bestahn.''^^ 

Once  beyond  the  Swiss  borders  they  began  to 
leave  the  vessels  at  many  of  the  cities  along  the  Rhine 
"wherever  there  were  congregations  of  their  brethren. 
And  thus  the  Mennonites  had  all  left  before  the  ships 
reached  Holland.  The  Amish  alone  arrived  at  Amster- 
dam. From  these  places  they  were  finally  scattered 
throughout  the  various  cities  of  Holland  and  North- 
western Germany.  Few  of  them  started  for  America 
immediately  but  judging  from  the  similarity  of  family 
names  sometime  during  the  next  fifty  years  a  large 
number  of  these  Bernese  exiles  and  their  children  must 
have  found  their  way  into  Pennsylvania.  Among  this 
group  can  be  found  representatives  of  nearly  all  the 
names  that  have  since  become  familiar  in  the  history  of 
the  Pennsylvania  Mennonites.  Among  the  most  char- 
acteristic of  which  are  those  of  Burki,  Gerber,  Fluck- 
iger,  Baumgartner,  Gauman,  Neukomm,  Wisler^ 
Haldeman,  Shallenberger,  Hauri,  Schlabach,  Blanks 
Neuhauser,  Meier,  Reuszer,  Steiner,  Wenger,  Streit, 
Stahli,  Stucki,  Bauer,  Hofifman,  Brechbiihl,  Krahen- 
biihl,  Bieri,  Rupp,  Schenk,  Fahrni,  Ashleman,  Eber- 
sold. 

But  to  return  more  directly  to  the  emigration  to- 


il.    Miiller,   304.     Translated  from  the   German. 


THE   PEQUEA   COLONY  145 

Pennsylvania  and  the  Pequea  settlement.  The  Bernese 
exiles  of  1709  and  1711,  as  we  have 
First   Palatinate      seen,  v^ere  not  the  first  of  the  Swiss 
Immigrants  Palatines  to  seek  new  homes  across 

the  Atlantic.  The  first  to  emigrate 
were  among  those  who  had  come  into  the  Palatinate 
from  Berne  and  Zurich  many  years  before.  Godshalk^^ 
says  that  in  1707  several  Palatines  came  to  German- 
town,  among  them  Johannes,  Jacob  and  Martin  Kolb. 
From  a  few  scattered  references  and  letters,  our  only 
source  of  information,  we  learn  that  others  followed  in 
the  years  immediately  succeeding.  On  April  8,  1709, 
a  letter  from  the  "Committee  on  Foreign  Needs"  at 
Amsterdam  states  that  nine  or  ten  poor  families  from 
near  Worms  had  come  to  Rotterdam  asking  for  help 
to  be  transported  to  Pennsylvania.  The  committee 
advised  them  not  to  go.^^  They  evidently  reached 
England,  however,  for  under  date  of  August  6,  Jacob 
Telner  wrote  from  London  that  eight  families  had 
gone  to  Pennsylvania  and  that  there  were  six  more 
Mennonite  families  in  London  too  poor  to  pay  their 
passage  across.  He  asks  the  brethren  at  Rotterdam  to 
come  to  their  rescue."  It  was  during  this  year  that 
the  Yearly  Meeting  of  the  Quakers  at  London  voted 
fifty  pounds  to  help  the  Mennonites-  to  get  to  Amer- 
ica.15  It  is  of  these  same  people  also  no  doubt  that 
Penn  wrote  to  Logan  who  was  then  in  Pennsylvania. 


12.  See    the     Godschalk    letter     quoted     by     Pennypacker     in     Hendrick 

Pennebecker. 

13.  Scheffer,  Mennonite  Emigration  to  Pennsylvania,  translated  in  Pa.  Mag. 

of   History,    II. 

14.  Ibid,    II.    122. 

15.  Barclay,   The   Inner   Life  of  the  Religious   Societies  of  the   Common- 

v/ealth,  p.  257. 


146  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

The  latter  is  dated,  "26th,  4th  mo.  1709."  Penn  says,— 
Herewith  come  the  Palatines,  whom  use  with  tenderness  and 
love  and  fix  them  so  that  they  may  send  over  an  agreeable 
character;  for  they  are  a  sober  people,  divers  Menonists 
and  will  neither  swear  nor  fight.  See  that  Guy  uses  them 
well.is 

All  of  these,  whoever  they  were,  no  doubt  reached 
America  safely  and  located  somewhere  near  German- 
town  or  on  the  Skippack. 

The  first  notice  that  we  have  of  the  founders  of 
the  Pequea  colony  is  in  a  letter  written  from  London 
on  June  27,  1710,  by  Martin  Kendig, 
Pequea  Colony  Jacob  Miller,  Martin  Oberholtzer, 
of  1710  Martin  Maili,  Christian  Herr  and  Hans 

Herr  to  friends  in  Amsterdam.  They 
Avere  on  their  way  to  America  and  sent  a  letter  of 
thanks  to  the  brethren  in  Holland  for  assistance 
that  the  Dutch  had  rendered  them.^^  These  were 
likely  of  the  earlier  exiles  into  the  Palatinate  from 
Zurich  and  Berne.^^  The  next  appearance  of  the  names 
of  these  men  is  on  a  warrant  dated  October  10,  1710, 
for  a  tract  of  ten  thousand  acres  north  of  Pequea  Creek 
in  what  is  now  Lancaster  county.^"  The  warrant  is 
drawn  up  in  favor  of  John  Rudolf  Bundely,  Martin 
Kendig,  Jacob  Miiller,  Hans  Graff,  Hans  Herr,  Chris- 
tian Herr,  Martin  Oberholts,  Hans  Funk,  Michael 
Oberholts  and  Weyndel  Bowman  "Switzers,  lately  ar- 
rived in  the  province."     The  tract  is  to  be  located  on 


16.  Penn-Logan   Correspondence,   II.   354. 

17.  Entire    letter    in    Miiller,    366. 

18.  In  1731  in  the  church  near  Ebingen  there  was  a  Heinrich  Kundig  and 

a  Jacob  Oberholzer.  In  the  church  at  Thirnheim  near  Sintzheim 
there  was  a  Hans  Herr,  a  Christian  Herr  and  a  Jacob  Meili.  All 
of  these  no  doubt  were  of  the  same  families  as  the  emigrants  to 
Pennsylvania.      See   Miiller,    209,    210. 

19.  In   the  office  of  the   Secretary  of  the   Interior  at   Harrisburg. 


"This  diagram  shows  the  hjcation  and  size  of  the  plots  of 
land  secured  by  the  first  Pequca  settlers.  The  largest  holder 
it  will  be  seen  was  Jacob  Miller  and  not  John  Heer  as  is  usu- 
ally supposed.  The  Pequea  here  sketched  is  south  of  Willow 
Street.  This  sketch  has  been  made  from  the  original  plot  in 
the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  at  Harrisburg." 


THE   PEQUEA   COLONY  -       147 

■"the  northwesterly  side  of  a  hill  about  twenty  miles- 
easterly  from  Conestoga  near  the  head  of  the  Perquin 
Creek."  For  these  ten  thousand  acres  the  purchasers 
were  to  pay  five  hundred  pounds  sterling  m.oney,  and 
in  addition  one  shilling  sterling  quit  rent  for  every 
hundred  acres.  On  April  27,  1711,  six  thousand  four 
hundred  and  seventeen  acres  were  distributed  among 
the  purchasers.-*^  The  remainder  was  divided  among 
later  comers.  It  will  be  observed  that  in  the  first  divi- 
sion several  new  names  appear,  while  those  of  Hans 
GrafT  and  Martin  Oberholts  are  not  to  be  found.  Of 
all  these  it  is  likely  that  Carpenter,  (Zimmermann)^'^ 
Funk  and  Bowman  joined  the  Kendig-Meilin  colony 
at  Germantown. 

Of  the  early  incidents  leading  up  to  this  settlement 
and  of  the  early  life  of  the  settlers  we  know  nothing 
above  what  we  are  able  to  glean  from  these  land 
records.  It  is  to  be  supposed,  however,  that  while  in 
England  they  met  either  Penn  or  his  agents  and  there 
contracted  for  their  land.  Since  Germantown  and  the 
surrounding  country  was  already  taken  up  by  immi- 
grants, they  consequently  turned  their  faces  westward, 
and  traveling  about  sixty  miles  out  of  Philadelphia 
they  reached  a  rich  limestone  region  along  the  banks 
■of  the  Pequea,  in  what  was  then  Chester,  but  now 
Lancaster  county.  Here  they  decided  to  put  up  their 
first  log  cabins,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  they  were  in 
the  very  heart  of  Indian  territory  and  that  with  the 
exception  of  a  few  scattered  Scotch-Irish  hunters  and 


20.  For  plot  of  original  tract  see  Old  Rights,  Lancaster  Co.,  in  office  of 

Secretary   of   Interior. 

21.  Many    of    those    names    were    early    Anglisized.      Henry    Zimmerman 

came  to  Germantown   1701,  returned  to  Germany  and  brought  back 
his  family  1706. 


148  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

fisherman  they  were  the  only  white  men  for  many 
miles  around.  Conyngham,  a  local  historian,  speaks 
of  this  region  one  hundred  and  twenty  years  later  as 

a  rich  limestone  country,  beautifully  adorned  with  sugar 
maple,  hickory  and  black  and  white  walnut,  on  the  border  of 
a  delightful  stream,  abounding  in  the  finest  trout.  .  .  .  The 
water  of  the  Pequai  was  clear,  cold  and  transparent,  and  the 
grape  vines  and  clematis  intertwining  among  the  lofty 
branches  of  the  majestic  button  wood,  formed  a  pleasant 
retreat  from  the  noon  beams  of  the  summer  sun.-- 

As  already  said,  we  know  very  little  about  these 
early  days.-^  The  colonists  evidently  were  well  pleased 

with  their  new  home,  for  they  im- 
Kendig's  Mission  mediately  decided  to  send  for  their 
to  Germany  friends    and    relatives    in    the    old 

country.-*  A  voyage  across  the 
ocean  in  those  days  was  no  small  undertaking,  and 
•consequently  they  agreed  to  cast  the  lot  to  decide  who 
was  to  carry  the  news  to  Europe.  The  lot  fell  on  Hans 
Herr,  but  either  because  he  was  their  preacher  whose 
services  could  not  well  be  dispensed  with  or  for  some 
other  reason,  Martin  Kendig  offered  to  take  his  place. 
Kendig  succeeded  in  his  mission  and  some  time  during 
that  year  brought  back  with  him  Peter  Yordea,  Jacob 
Miller,  Hans  Tschantz,  Henry  Funk,  John  Houser, 
John  Bachman,  Jacob  Weber,  Christopher  Schlegel'-' 


22.  Hazard,    Register,   VII.    151. 

23.  For    some    of    the    traditions    of    the    early    settlement    see    Mombert, 

History  of  Lancaster  County,  p.  421 ;  also  an  article  by  G.   N.   Le 
Fevre  in  the  "Home,"  Aug.  5,  1905,  published  at  Strasburg,  Pa. 

24.  The    details    of    this    story    are    a    matter    of    tradition.      See    Rupp ; 

History  of  Lancaster  County  and  G.   N.   Le  Fevre  in  the  "Home" 
Aug.   5,   1905. 

25.  Schlegel  had  come  to  Germantown  1701.     Pa.  Ger.  Soc,  IX.  191.     See 

also   Pa.   Arch.   2nd.   Ser.,   Vol.   XIX.   56. 


THE   PEQUEA   COLONY  149 

and  others,-''  most  of  them  with  their  families.  During 
the  next  fifteen  years  many  others  took  up  land  near 
the  Palatines.  From  the  minute  books  of  the  Board 
of  Property  and  from  other  sources  we  learn  that  in 
addition-^  to  those  already  named  there  were  added  to 
the  settlement  before  1715  the  following,  most  of  them 
heads  of  families, — Christian  Brenneman,  Hans  Haigy, 
Christian  Hershi,  Hans  Pupather  (Brubaker),  Hein- 
rich  Bar,  Peter  Lehman,-^  Benedictus  Witmer,  Mel- 
-chior  Brenneman,29  Heinrich  Funk,  Michael  Schenk, 
Johannes  Landes,  Hans  Huber,  Isaac  Kaufman, 
Melchior  Erisman,  with  others,  sons  of  the  first  settlers 
who  had  in  the  meantime  reached  the  age  of  twenty- 
one,  and  a  very  few  more  who  were  non-Mennon- 
ites.^"  During  the  next  two  years  there  were  added 
either  from  Europe  or  the  Germantown  settlement, 
Jacob  Hostetter,  Jacob  Kreider,  Hans  Graff,^!  Bene- 
dictus Venerich^S  Jacob  Bohm,^-  Hans  Faber,  Theo- 
dorus  Eby^^  Heinrich  Zimmerman  and  others. 

The  settlers  from  1711  to  1717  came  as  individuals 
and  in  small  groups.  But  in  the  latter  year  there  was 
another  wave  of  immigration  including  many  of  those 


26.  Rupp,  History  of  Lancaster  County,  p.  81. 

27.  Pa.    Arch.    2nd.    Ser.,    XIX.      See    Index   for   well    known    Mennonite 

names. 

28.  A  minister  in  Oberpfalz  in  1699.     See  J.  Moser,  i;ine  Verantwortung 

gegen  Musser. 
^9.     See  Muller,  201. 

30.  Mombert,  History  of  Lancaster  County,  p.  422;  Rupp,  Thirty  Thou- 

sand Names,  436.     Graff  came  to  Lancaster  county  1716.     See  Rupp, 
History  of  Lancaster  County,  p.   IS. 

31.  Name  appears  on  the   1710  warrant. 

32.  Father  of  Martin  Boehm,  one  of  the  founders  of  the  United  Brethren 

church. 


ISO  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

who  had  been  exiled  from  Berne  in   1710  and   1711. 

These  refugees,  as  we  saw,  were  scat- 
Wave  of  1717      tered    throughout   the    Palatinate    and 

other  parts  of  Germany.     They  were 
never  in  prosperous  circumstances.     The  country  was 
wasted  by  wars.    The  churches  were  poor.    They  had 
to  gain  a  livelihood  as  best  they  could,  often  by  the 
help  of  their  brethren  in  the  Netherlands.    Their  num- 
bers, furthermore,  were  continually  increasing  by  fresh 
exiles  from  Switzerland.^^     At  this  same  time  came  a 
special  invitation  from  King  George  I  to  settle  the 
lands  west  of  the  Alleghanies.^*    The  glowing  descrip- 
tion of  the  new  country  given  by  the  king's  agent 
■'together  with  the  promising  reports  of  friends  who  had 
.-already  come  across,  as  well  as  their  own  distressed 
condition  finally  prevailed  over  the  love  for  their  native 
land  which  had  made  these  Swiss  exiles  so  averse  to 
deportation  several  years  previously.     They  had  now 
been  absent  long  enough  to  be  partly  weaned  from 
their  love  for  the  hills  and  valleys  of  their  beloved  even 
though  cruel  native  land.     Consequently,  in  February 
of  1717  a  number  of  elders,  including  Benedict  Brecht- 
tiihl   and    Hans    Burghalter,   met   at   Mannheim   and 
decided  to  emigrate  to  Pennsylvania.^''     The  "Com- 
mittee on  Foreign  Needs"  which  had  been  organized 
■some  time  before  at  Amsterdam  for  the  purpose  of 
helping  their  needy  brethren  in  the  Palatinate,  and  to 
nvhom   these   exiles   now  applied   for  assistance,   dis- 


.33.  See  de  Hoop  Scheffer,  in  Pa.  Mag.  of  History,  II.  126;  also  de  Hoop 
Scheffer's  catalogue  of  documents  for  list  of  Swiss  letters  in  the 
archives  of  the   Mennonite  church  at  Amsterdam. 

.34.  For  glowing  descriptions  of  the  country  as  given  by  these  agents  and 
the  terms  of  settlement  see  de  Hoop  Scheffer  in  Pa.  Mag.  of  Hist., 
II.    127. 

:35.     Ibid,  p.   132. 


THE   PEQUEA   COLONY  151 

couraged  the  movement.  They  feared  that  if  a  pre- 
cedent were  once  established  there  might  be  more 
calls  for  money  than  they  could  supply.  In  spite  of  all 
the  endeavors,  however,  of  the  committee  to  check  the 
emigration  it  was  reported  to  them  on  March  20 
that  more  than  one  hundred  persons  had  started.  This 
number  was  soon  increased  to  three  hundred.  In  spite 
of  their  own  refusal  to  render  assistance,  the  commit- 
tee nevertheless  helped  the  needy  ones  across  the 
ocean.  This  was  the  history  of  the  proceedings  of  this 
committee  for  many  years  to  come.  They  publicly 
discouraged  all  attempts  to  emigrate  but  secretly 
rendered  assistance  when  called  upon  for  help. 

This  year,  1717,  must  have  been  especially  con- 
ducive to  emigration  for  we  find  that  many  others 
besides  Mennonites  came  into  Pennsylvania  at  this 
time.  In  fact  their  great  numbers  began  to  excite 
some  alarm  among  the  English,  in  the  province.  Gov- 
ernor Keith  fearing  lest  the  English  speaking  popu- 
lation might  be  outnumbered  by  the  foreigners,  recom- 
mended that  some  steps  be  taken  towards  restricting 
future  immigration.  The  minute  books  of  the  Board 
of  Property  contain  many  entries  of  land  sold  during 
the  year  near  the  Mennonite  settlement  in  the  Pequea. 
These  newcomers  were  all  "Relations,  Friends  or  ac- 
quaintances who  are  honest  conscientious  people."^' 
Martin  Kendig  and  Hans  Herr  were  the  richest  and 
the  most  influential  members  of  the  colony,  and  much 
of  the  land  for  the  new  settlers  was  first  taken  up  in 
the  names  of  these  two  men." 


36.     Pa.   Arch.  2nd.   Sen,   XIX.   679. 
27.     "Feb.    8,    1717." 

"Agreed   with   Martin   Kendigg  and   Hans   Herr  for   5000   acres 
of   land    to    be    taken    up    in    several    parcels    about    Conestoga    and 


152  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

The  Mennonite  settlement  occupied  at  this  time 
the  southern  half  of  what  was  then  (in  1718)  Cones- 
toga  township.  The  northern  part  of  the  township  was 
composed  largely  of  Scotch-Irish  and  English.  It 
must  not  be  forgotten  that  although  what  is  now 
Lancaster  county  has  from  that  day  to  this  been  pre- 
dominantly a  Mennonite  settlement  yet  by  1718  many 
others  besides  Alennonites  had  found  their  way  to  the 
community.  The  first  assessment  of  the  township  was 
taken  in  1718,^^  and  the  list  of  tax  payers  for  that  year 
gives  us  a  fair  idea  of  the  size  of  the  Mennonite  settle- 
ment. These  names,  however,  do  not  include  all  the 
immigrants  who  had  up  to  this  time  come  into  the 
province,  for  several  of  their  number  had  moved  away 
by  this  time,  while  others  had  not  settled  origin- 
ally within  the  domain  of  what  was  then  Conestoga 
township.  The  list  shows  that  in  this  immediate 
neighborhood  there  were  added  by  1718  among  per- 


Pequea   Creeks  at    10   pounds   ct.   to  be  paid   at  the  returns   of  the 
surveys  and  usual  quit  rents,  it  being  for  settlements  for  several  of 

their  countrymen  that  are  lately  arrived  here."     The  warrant  for  this 
land  is  signed  on  September  22,  to  the  following: 

Hans  Moyer  3S0  acres 

Chr.   Hearsay  and  Hans   Pupather  1000     " 

Hans  Kaiggy.  100 

Mich.  Shank  and  Henry  Pare  400     " 

Hans   Pupather  700 

Peter    Lehman  300 

Molker    Penerman  500 

Henry   and    John    Funk  5 SO 

Chr.     Fransicus  ISO 

Michael  Shank                                                       •  200     '' 

Jacob    Lundus    and    Ulrick    Harvey  ISO 

Emanuel     Herr  500 

Abr.  Herr  600     || 

Hans  Tuber,   Isaac   Coffman  and  Melkerman  675 

Mich.    Miller  ■     500     " 

Minute  Book  of  Board  of  Property,  Pa.  Arch.  2nd.  Ser.,  XIX.  622. 

38.     Ellis   and    Evans. — History   of   Lancaster   County,    p.  -9. 


THE   PEQUEA   COLONY  153 

haps  others  the  following'  names :  Joseph  Stemen, 
Isaac  LeFevre,^"  Hans  Houre,  Martin  Bear,  Henry 
Kendig,  Andrew  Kauffman,  Isaac  Kauffman/°  Jacob 
Brubaker,  Melchior  Erisman,  Hance  Burghalter,*"- 
Hance  Neucommer,  Jacob  Landes,*-  Hance  Henry 
Neff,  Franz  Neff,  Felix  Landes,  Jacob  Landes  Jr., 
Martin  Boyer,  Hance  Boyer,  Benedictus  Brackbill 
[Brechtbiihl]  and  Christian  Schans. 

The  wave  of  immigration   in   1717  evidently  re- 
lieved the  immediate  pressure  in  the  Palatinate  and  for 

a  few  years  there  seem  to  have  been  few, 
Later  if  any  new  arrivals  in  Lancaster  county.  But 

Arrivals      soon  they  began  once  more  to  come.   In  1722 

Nicholas    Erb*^    and    others    arrived    from 
Europe  and  some  time  later  settled  on  Hammer  Creek 


39.  See  Rupp,  Hist,  of  Lancaster  County,  for  good  sketch  of  the  life  of 

Isaac  Le  Fevre.  Le  Fevre  was  a  Huguenot.  In  1709  he  was  one  of 
the  company  that  located  in  New  York  at  New  Paltz  where  the 
name  Lefevre  is  still  very  common.  In  1712  he  and  his  wife, 
Catherine,  daughter  of  Madam  Ferree  came  to  Lancaster  County. 
Here  he  became  one  of  the  largest  landholders  in  the  settlement. 
Either  he  or  some  of  his  immediate  descendants  joined  the 
Mennonites.  There  are  many  Lefevers  and  Le  Fevres  in  the  Menno- 
nite  church  in  the  county  to-day.  See  also  History  of  New  Paltz,  by 
Ralph  Le  Fevre. 

40.  See   J.    Moser ;     Fine   Verantwortung,    etc.      This    pamphlet   contains 

the  names  of  many  of  the  ministers  in  Switzerland  who  took  part 
in  the  trouble  between  Amman  and  Reist  in  the  years  1693-1710. 
Among    them    was    Isaac    Kauffman. 

41.  Muller,    Geschichte   der    Bernischen    Taufer,    p.    200. 

42.  In  1717  three  brothers.  Rev.  Benjamin,  Felix,  and  John  Landis,  Swiss 

Mennonites  came  to  America  from  Mannheim  on  the  Rhine  whither 
they  had  been  driven  from  Zurich.  Benjamin's  descendants  are 
found  mostly  in  Lancaster  county.  In  1718  the  first  assessment  in 
Conestoga  township  contained  the  names  of  Jacob  Landis  and  Jacob 
Jr.  The  name  Jacob  is  probably  a  mistake.  It  should  have  been 
Benjamin.  D.  B.  Landis,  The  Landis  Family,  p.  12.  Benjamin 
located  in  East  Lampeter  township.  Felix  in  1719  received  a  patent 
from  London  Company  for  400  acres  in  Conestoga  township. 
John  located  in  Bucks  county  but  in  1720  took  up  300  acres  at  the 
junction    of    Middle    and    Hammer    Creeks. 

43.  Alex.   Harris,    Biographical   History  of   Lancaster   County,   p.    194. 


154  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

in  what  is  now  Warwick  township.  Christian  Bam- 
berger** and  Peter  Reist*^  also  located  in  the  same 
region.  Each  year  b-rought  a  few  more.  Before  1727 
we  meet  the  following  additional  names  of  Mennonites 
who  had  come  into  the  county, — Christian  Mosser, 
Samuel  Hess,  Abraham  Burkhalter,  Johannes  Hess, 
Joseph  Buchwalter,  Peter  Baumgartner,  Jacob  Niissli 
who  settled  in  Mt.  Joy  township,*"  Hans  Schnebele, 
Jacob  Guth,  Jacob  Beyer,  Hans  Jacob  Schnebele,*'^ 
Heinrich  Musselman,  Jacob  Kurtz,*^  John  Ulrich 
Huber,  Johannes  Lichty,*^  Johannes  Stauffer,^°  Johann 
Heinrich  Bar,  Jacob  Weber,  Heinrich  Weber,  Jo- 
"hannes  Weber,  George  Weber,  David  Longenecker,^^ 
Peter  jEby,^-  Matthias  Stouffer,'^^  Johannes  Guth, 
Christian  Steiner,^*  AdamBrandt,^^  Simon  Konig,^® 
Johannes  Rupp.^^  Philipp  Dock,^®  Rudolph  Nageli,^^ 
and  Michael  Eckerlin."°    There  may  perhaps  have  been 


44.  Ibid,   62. 

45.  Ibid,  480. 

46.  Ibid,  425. 

47.  Miiller,   Geschichte  der   Eernisclien   Taufer,   225,   290. 

48.  Possibly   Amish. 

49.  The  name   Licliti  frequently  occurs   in   Miiller's  book. 
•50.     Muller,  202. 

51.  Pennypacker,  Hendrick  Pennebecker,  p.  16. 

52.  A  relative  to  Theodore. 

53.  Pa.  Arch.  Second  Sen,  XIX.  134. 

54.  Miiller,  277. 

55.  Possibly  Amish. 

56.  Possibly  Amish. 

57.  Miiller,   277. 

58.  Father  of   Christopher,   the  pedagogue  who   came  to   Germantown   in 

1714.     This  list  of  names  is  taken  largely  from  Mombert.. 

59.  See    Brumbaugh,    History    of    the    Brethren,    p.    161  ;    also    Moser,    in 

Eine  Verantwortung. 
'60.     Came  to  Germantown  in   1725,  to  Conestoga,   1727.     There  he  joined 
the  Mennonites  but  soon  cast  his  lot  with  Beissel  and  became  one 
of  the  founders  of  the  Ephrata  movement. 


THE   PEQUEA   COLONY  155 

others  of  whom  no  record  has  been  preserved.^^ 

In  the  meantime  the  original   settlement  on  the 
Pequea  was  spreading  itself  over  the  central  portion  of 

what  is  now  Lancaster  county.  The 
Graff's   Thai     Herrs,  Meylins  and  Kendigs  as  we  have 

seen  were  located  on  both  sides  of  the 
Pequea  southeast  of  the  present  village  of  Willow 
Street.  The  settlement  soon  spread  across  what  are 
now  Conestoga,  Pequea,  West  Lampeter,  Strasburg 
and  Providence  (northern  part)  townships.  This  re- 
gion was  soon  taken  up,  however,  and  it  became 
necessary  for  those  who  desired  large  and  cheap  tracts 
of  land  to  locate  on  the  outskirts  of  the  original  settle- 
ment. Hans  Graff  was  one  of  the  first  to  begin  a  new 
community.  The  story  goes  that  sometime  in  the  year 
1717  while  in  pursuit  of  his  stray  horses  he  wandered 
into  what  is  now  known  as  Graff's  Thai  in  West  Earl 
township.     He  was  so  well  pleased  with  the  beauty 


61.  I  have  taken  great  pains  throughout  this  treatise  to  insert  the  name& 
of  the  early  immigrants  who  I  was  reasonably  certain  were  Men- 
nonites.  This  I  have  done  for  several  reasons.  In  the  first  place 
since  the  Mennonites  kept  no  church  records,  one  of  the  difficult 
problems  of  the  Mennonite  historian  is  to  ascertain  who  were  and 
who  were  not  Mennonites.  These  names  all  appear  in  all  histories 
of  the  early  settlers  in  these  various  localities  and  I  have  thought 
it  worth  while  here  to  place  them  within  their  proper  religious  affili- 
ations. In  the  second  place  these  names  are  still  representative  of 
many  Mennonite  families  throughout  the  country  and  may  be  of 
interest  to  many  Mennonites  of  today.  The  task  was  by  no  means 
an  easy  one.  In  a  few  instances  I  may  have  been  mistaken  but  very 
few  if  any  of  those  mentioned  were  other  than  Mennonite.  I  have 
relied  very  largely  for  my  information  on  family  histories,  letters, 
lists  of  European  Mennonites,  local  histories,  naturalization  lists, 
controversial  pamphlets,  records  on  tombstones,  family  traditions 
and  my  own  personal  knowledge  of  the  Mennonite  names  of  today. 
By  a  careful  process  of  elimination  and  comparison  in  the  study  of 
com.plete  and  I  think  quite  accurate  list  of  at  least  the  most  prom- 
these  various  sorts  of  evidence  I  have  been  able  to  make  a  fairly 
inent   of  the  early   Mennonite  immigrants. — C.   H.   S. 


156  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

and  fertility  of  the  surrounding  country  that  he  de- 
cided to  remove  his  family  and  belongings  from  the 
Pequea  to  the  new  location.*'-  During  the  same  year 
he  received  a  warrant  for  1150  acres  on  what  is  now 
Grafif's  Run,  a  branch  of  the  Conestoga.  Hans  Graff 
was  soon  followed  by  others, — Alennonites  and  non- 
Mennonites.  The  preponderance  of  the  names  Groff, 
Graff,  and  Grove  in  the  cemetery  of  the  Groffdale 
Mennonite  church,  near  the  little  station  called  Groff- 
dale indicates  that  many  of  the  descendants  of  old 
Hans  remained  faithful  to  the  church  of  his  choice. 
That  he  must  have  been  a  man  of  considerable  in- 
fluence in  the  community  is  shown  by  the  fact  that 
three  townships — the  three  Earls — now  bear  his  name 
although  in  an  Angelicized  form. 

A  little  later,  in  1724,  another  Mennonite  settle- 
ment was  made  about  six  miles  east  of  Graff's  Thai. 

Here  in  vv^hat  soon  became  known  as 
Weber's  Thai       Weber's    Thai,    three    brothers,    John, 

Jacob  and  Henry  Weber  bought  from 
the  Penns  about  three  thousand  acres  of  land  between 
the  Welsh  Mountain  near  which  some  Welsh  had 
settled,  and  the  Conestoga.  With  them  was  associated 
Hans  Guth  a  brother-in-law  of  one  of  the  Webers. 
These  were  joined  soon  after  by  the  Martins,  Schneid- 
ers, Zimmermans  and  Ruths.  These  names  are  found 
today  almost  exclusively  on  the  oldest  tomb-stones 
in  the  graveyard  of  the  Weaverland  Mennonite  church. 
Fully  two  thirds  of  the  inscriptions  bear  the  names  of 
Weber  or  Weaver  and  Martin.  This  locality  is  un- 
doubtedly the  original  home  of  nearly  all  the  Mennon- 


62.     For  this  story  see  Diffcnderfer,  The  Three  Earls;  and  Rupp,  History 
of   Lancaster   County,   p.    132. 


THE   PEQUEA   COLONY  157 

ite  Weavers  found  in  America  today.*'^  At  the  same 
time  settlements  were  being  made  in  the  west  and 
northwest.  In  1717,  John  Brubaker  and  Christian 
Hershey  took  out  a  patent  for  one  thousand 
acres  about  two  miles  v/est  of  Lancaster  city 
in  East  Hempfield.*'*  Here  Brubaker  erected 
the  first  grist  mill  in  Lancaster  county  near 
the  present  Abbeyville.**^  Later  the  tract  of 
land  was  divided,  Hershey  taking  the  northern  half 
and  Brubaker  the  southern.*"'  In  the  north  we  have 
already  seen  that  as  early  as  1720  John  Landes  took 
up  land  at  the  junction  of  Middle  and  Hammer  Creeks, 
which  form  a  tributary  of  the  Cocalico.*'^  A  little 
farther  to  the  west  Peter  Reist,  Christian  Bomberger 
and  Nicholas  Erb  soon  after  became  early  settlers  in 
this  region.  Land  was  also  purchased  very  early  west 
of  the  Conestoga  in  what  was  then  Conestoga  Manor 
but  now  Manor  township.  A  draft  made  of  the  manor  in 
1718  shows  that  land  had  been  purchased  before  that 
time  by  John  and  Abraham  Herr,  John  Shenk,  Michael 
Shenk,  Alartin  Funk,  Michael  Baughman  and  many 
others.  It  is  perhaps  not  necessary  to  proceed  further 
with  these  details.  Enough  has  already  been  said  to 
show  that  the  Mennonites  were  taking  possession  of 
the  land.  It  was  not  long  until  the  richest  portions  of 
the  country  were  in  their  hands. 

The  year  1727  marks  another  epoch  in  the  history 


63.  See  Rupp,   124,  and  Diffenderfer,  26. 

64.  Pa.  Arch.  Second  Series,  XIX.   628. 

65.  Harris,  88.     Brubaker  had  nine  sons.     John  and   Daniel  later  settled 

in  Elizabeth  township,  while  Abraham  went  to  Virignia. 

66.  Per.  J.  N.   Brubaker,  Mt.  Joy,  Pa. 

67.  See  Landis  Family,  by  D.   B.   Landes. 


158  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

of  the  immigration  of  Mennonites  as  well  as  that  of 
other  Palatines.®^     So  many  foreign- 
Passenger  Lists       ers    came   over    this   year   that   the 
Required   1727  English      Quakers      again      became 

alarmed.  The  Provincial  Council  on 
September  14,  adopted  a  resolution  which  was  em- 
bodied into  law  to  the  effect  that  all  masters  of  vessels 
importing  Germans  and  other  foreigners  should  pre- 
pare a  list  of  such  persons  together  with  the  place 
from  whence  they  came,  and  further  that  all  such 
immigrants  should  sign  a  declaration  of  allegiance  to 
the  king  of  Great  Britain  and  of  fidelity  to  the  Pro- 
prietary of  Pennsylvania.*"*  These  lists  begin  with 
September  21,  1727,  and  continue  to  the  Revolutionary 
war.  They  have  since  been  printed  by  Rupp  in  his 
"Thirty  Thousand  Names"  and  can  also  be  found  in 
the  Pennsylvania  Archives  publications.'^"  These  lists 
are  of  great  value  to  any  Pennsylvania  German  who  is 
interested  in  the  study  of  his  ancestry.  They  show  us 
that  Mennonites  continued  to  come  to  Pennsylvania 
more  or  less  irregularly  up  to  the  time  of  the  Revo- 
lutionary war.  Not  all  of  these  immigrants,  to  be 
sure,  came  to  Lancaster  county.  Many  settled  in 
Chester,  Bucks,  Berks  and  Montgomery  counties. 

Many  of  these  early  ship  passengers  bear  names 
that  sound  familiar  to  the  ears  of  the  student  of 
Mennonite  genealogy.  The  second  ship  to  arrive 
under  the  new  law,  the  James  Goodwill,  which  regis- 


68.  For   the   reasons  for   this   emigration   and   for   the   efforts  of  the   Com- 

mittee on  Foreign  Needs  to  stem  the  tide  of  emigration  see  Scheffer 
in   Pa.   Mag.   of   History   II.    130. 

69.  Colonial  Records.   III.  282. 

70.  Pa.   Arch   Second   Series,   XIX.     See  Index  for  genealogical  purposes. 

Index,  liowever,  is  not  reliable. 


THE   PEQUEA   COLONY  159 

tered  on  September  27,  1727,  had  on  board  Abraham 
Ebersohl,  Peter  Zug,^^  Ulric  Zug,^^  and  Ulric  Stauffer, 
On  September  30,  the  ship  Molley  brought  over  sev- 
enty Palatines  including  Peter  Gut,  Felix  Gut,  Hans 
Gut,  Sr.,  Hans  Funk,  Martin  Kendigh,  Samuel  Gut, 
Samuel  Oberholtz  and  Christian  Wenger."  On  board 
the  Adventurer  w^hich  arrived  at  Philadelphia  on  Oc- 
tober 2,  were  Ulrich  Pitscha,''*  John  Jacob  Stutzman, 
Johannes  Kurtz,  Ulrich  Riesser,  John  Beydeler  and 
Hans  Halteman. 

These  ships  arrived  usually  in  the  fall  during  the 
months  of  August,  September  and  October.  The  first 
vessel  to  arrive  in  1729,  the  Mortonhouse,  had  among 
other  passengers  Dielman  Kolb,  Uldric  Root,  Jacob 
Crebil,  Jacob  Eschelman,  Christian  Longacre  and 
Hendrick  Snevele.  On  August  11,  1732,  among  the 
passengers  on  board  the  Samuel  from  London  w^e 
again  meet  many  familiar  Mennonite  names,  among 
others  those  of  Jacob  Oberholtzer,  Oswald  Hostetter, 
Hans  Musselman,  George  Bender,  Ulrich  Burkhalter, 
Jacob  Gut,  Jacob  Albrecht,  Michael  Kreider,  Jacob 
Staufer,  Jacob  Gut,  Andreas  Shetler,  Johannes  Brech- 
bil,  Wendel  Brechbiehl,  Heinrich  Ramsauer  and  Peter 
Shellenberger.  During  the  remainder  of  that  autumn 
there  were  added  to  the  list, — Conrad  Frick,  Michael 


71.  Located  in  Milford  township,   Bucks  county.     See  Battle,  History  of 

Bucks  county.     He  later  joined  the  Ephrata  Monks.     See  Chronicon 
Ephratense. 

72.  Hartzler  Genealogy,  p.  329. 

73.  The  founder  of  the  Mennonite  Wenger  family.     See  Wenger,  Wenger 

Family  History. 

74.  Possibly  an  Amishman. 


160  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

Witmer,  Lenhart  Mumma,  Christian  Martin,  Johanrh 
Landis  and  Jacob  Steli." 

The  Mennonites,  it  will  be  seen,  came  in  small 
groups  during  all  these  years.  On  September  21,  1742,. 
on  the  ship,  Francis  and  Elizabeth,  there  were  brought 
over  a  large  company  of  Amish  and  Mennonites, 
among  whom  were  the  three  Zug  brothers,  the  ances- 
tors of  most  of  the  Amish  Zooks  in  this  country.  The 
names  of  these  men  are, — Michael  Kolb,  Christian 
Newcomer,  Ulrich  Neuschwanger,  Jacob  Yoder,"^ 
Moritz  Zug,  and  two  brothers,^"  Christian  Jotter,^" 
Andreas  Bachman,  Johann  Heinrich  Schertz,^^  Jacob 
Kurtz,  Jacob  Guth,"*  Johannes  Gerber.'^^  On  Sep- 
tember 30,  1754,  the  ship.  Brothers,  arrived  at  Phila- 
delphia with  two  hundred  and  fifty  Palatineson  board, 
twenty-seven  of  whom  are  designated  in  the  records 
as  Mennonites  and  seven  as  Catholics.  Judging  en- 
tirely from  the  names  themselves  we  may  conclude 
that  the  following  were  perhaps  the  twenty-seven 
Mennonites, — Jacob  Brubaker,  Franz  Burghart,  Abra- 
ham Mellinger,  Johannes  Hershberger,  Johannes 
Eicher,   John    Jacob    Brubaker,     Michael    Burckhart, 


75.  A   large   proportion   of   these   names   are   of    Bernese   origin   and    their 

duplicates  can  all  be  found  in  Miiller's  Geschichte  der  Bernischert 
Taufer. 

76.  Amish. 

77.  The  name  Schertz  is  not  very  common  but  where  it  is  found  in  Illinois- 

and  Ohio  its  bearers  all  belong  to  original  Amish  or  Mennonite 
families. 

78.  Rupp  in  his  History  of  Religious   Denominations   says  that   by   173S' 

there  were  about  five  hundred  families  in  Lancaster  county,  mostly 
Mennonites. 

79.  It  is  not  necessary  to  continue  these  names.     Enough  has  been  said! 

to  illustrate  the  value  of  these  lists  to  the  student  of  Mennonite 
immigration.  Any  one  personally  interested  in  the  subject  is  re- 
ferred to  the  sources  mentioned. 

I  am  not  absolutely  sure  that  all  the  names  mentioned  here  were 
those  of  Mennonites.     But  the  exceptions,  if  any,  are  very  few. 


THE   PEQUEA   COLONY  161 

Christian  Eicher,  Johann  Christian  Witmer,  Jacob 
Detweiler,  Johannes  Frey,  Peter  Frey,  Johann  Jacob 
Witmer,  Abraham  Strickler,  Wilhelm  Eschelman, 
Heinrich  Heistand,  Jacob  Kauffman,  Jacob  Huber, 
Heinrich  Graff,  Valentine  Noldt,  Abraham  Hackman, 
Joseph  Lemann.  On  October  1,  of  the  same  year  the 
ship,  Phoenix,  had  on  board  twenty-five  Mennonites, 
including  such  names  as  Neuenschwander,  Burck- 
halter,  Aeschliman,  Newcomer,  Brechtbiihl,  Burck- 
hart,  Hunsicker  and  Geyman.  Later  lists  do  not  men- 
tion the  Mennonites  specifically,  but  it  is  likely  that  a 
few  came  each  year  as  late  as  the  Revolutionary  war. 
By  about  1755,  however,  the  steady  inflow  of  immi- 
grants   from   the    Palatinate   had    practically    ceased. 

We  have  thus  far  confined  our  attention  to  the 
formation  of  early  settlements.  Let  us  turn  now 
briefly  to  a  subject  of  more  interest — the 
Secular  secular   and   religious   life   of  the   people. 

Life  But  to  tell  this  story  is  not  an  easy  task, 

for  these  people  left  no  record  of  them- 
selves, except  in  the  land  offices  and  on  their  tomb- 
stones. Of  church  records  there  is  not  a  scrap.  Our 
story  ol  these  early  days  must  be  pieced  together  from 
what  we  can  glean  from  their  land  entries,  family  Bi- 
bles, petitions  for  naturalization  or  military  exemption 
and  an  occasional  letter  to  .Europe  preserved  in  Euro- 
pean archives. 

The  first  thing  to  notice  is  that  these  men,  unlike 
their  brethren  at  Germantown,  were  agriculturists. 
In  their  Swiss  homes  most  of  them  had  been  small 
farmers  and  dairymen.^"  Consequently  while  the 
Germantown   settlement  took  the   form   of  a  village 


80.     Mialler,  290. 


162  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

that  on  the  Pequea  was  spread  over  large  farms,  vary- 
ing in  the  first  few  years  from  two  hundred  to  several 
thousand  acres  in  extent.  Thus  the  problem  of  gov- 
ernment was  with  them  a  simple  matter.  Although' 
the  Mennonites  were  the  first  white  settlers  to  come 
to  Lancaster  county,  and  although  they  have  ever 
since  far  outnumbered  all  others  in  the  rural  districts,, 
yet  they  have  always  been  ruled  politically  by  others. 
They  never  took  to  politics.  The  local  government 
was  usually  managed  by  their  Scotch-Irish  neighbors 
who  orgainzed  and  named  the  townships  and  filled  the 
various  local  offices.  The  Mennonites  were  a  peace- 
ful, quiet  and  industrious  people,  well  satisfied  with 
their  quiet  life  on  the  farm.  They  were  willing  to 
leave  the  matter  of  government  to  the  Scotch-Irish 
whom  they  gradually  dispossessed  of  such  rich  farms 
as  were  not  already  in  their  hands.  Today  the  de- 
scendants of  these  Scotch-Irish  are  found  almost  alto- 
gether in  the  southern  township,  a  region  in  which 
the  soil  is  so  poor  that  no  industrious  Mennonite  has. 
ever  located  there.  A  glance  at  the  county  map  will 
indicate  that  with  the  exception  of  the  three  Earls, 
most  of  the  townships  bear  Irish  and  English  names. 
Two  of  them  only,  Strasburg  and  Manheim,  are 
named  for  the  places  from  which  the  German  settlers 
came.  In  the  small  villages  and  less  conspicuous, 
localities,  however,  where  places  are  more  likely  to  be 
named  after  some  original  settler,  more  German 
names  appear.  Bareville,  Beyertown,  Eby's  Post 
Office,  Groffdale,  Herrville,  Hess  Station,  Landis  Val- 
ley, Landisville,  Martinsdale,  Weaverland,  Mast's 
Post  Office,  Rohrerstown,  Weavertown,  Witmer  Sta- 
tion, Hertzler,  Lapps,  Brubaker,  Neffsville  and  Good- 


THE   PEQUEA   COLONY  163 

ville, — all  these  names  indicate  that  the  Mennonites 
liave  everywhere  been  pioneers  in  building  up  the 
•county. 

Their  industry  very  early  attracted  the  attention 
of  travelers  through  this  region.  In  1744  one  of  the 
■delegates  to  the  Indian  conference  at  Lancaster  de- 
scribes their  beautiful  farms : 

"They  sow  all  kinds  of  grain,"  he  says,  "and  have  very 
plentiful  harvests.  Their  houses  are  chiefly  built  of  stone 
and  generally  near  some  brook  or  stream  of  water.  They 
have  very  large  meadows  which  produce  a  great  deal  of  hay 
and  feed  therewith  a  variety  of  cattle."^'- 

Before  the  days  of  the  railroad  all  this  produce 
had  to  be  carried  from  the  Conestoga  region  in  large 
heavy  v^agons.  These  were  the  famous  Conestoga 
wagons  which  were  used  not  only  to  transport  farm 
produce  from  Conestoga  to  Philadelphia  but  in  later 
years  when  the  fever  of  western  emigration  began, 
they  also  became  the  means  of  carrying  the  emigrant 
and  his  family  across  the  mountains  and  down  the 
valleys  to  his  new  home.^-  In  more  recent  years  on 
the  western  plains  the  same  vehicle  but  under  a  new 
name,  "The  Prairie  Schooner"  has  been  used  for  the 


81.  Witham  Marshes  Journal,  Mass.  Historical  Society,  First  Series;  VII. 
175. 

S2.  Albert  Cook  Myers,  of  Moylan,  Pa.,  a  careful  student  of  Pennsyl- 
vania history,  tells  me  that  the  earliest  reference  found  to  the  Con- 
estoga wagon  is  in   1716. 

"In  this  wagon,  drawn  by  four  or  five  horses  of  a  peculiar  breed, 
they  convey  to  market,  over  the  roughest  roads,  2000  or  3000  pounds' 
weight  of  produce  of  their  farms.  In  the  months  of  September  and 
October  it  is  no  uncommon  thing  on  the  Lancaster  and  Reading 
roads  to  meet  in  one  day  fifty  or  one  hundred  of  these  wagons  on 
their  way  to  Philadelphia,  most  of  which  belong  to  German  farmers." 
Benj.  Rush,  in  1789  quoted  by  Kuhns  Swiss  and  German  Settlements 
in  Pennsylvania,  p.  98. 


164  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

same  purpose.  But  the  railroad  has  put  an  end  to  the 
old  Conestoga  wagon.  Nothing  but  an  occasional 
remnant  of  a  few  broken  bows,  an  old  wagon  bed,  or  a 
few  ponderous  wheels  found  in  obscure  corners  in 
Indiana,  Ohio  or  Pennsylvania  is  left  now  to  remind 
us  of  the  famous  old  wagon  that  was  once  so  essential 
to  the  well-being  of  these  early  pioneers. 

The  Mennonites,  as  we  saw,  were  a  country  peo- 
ple. They  never  took  a  liking  to  city  life.  And  thus 
it  is  that  while  the  central  portion  of  the  county  was 
settled  almost  exclusively  by  Mennonites,  Lancaster 
city,  in  the  very  center  of  the  county,  was  composed 
largely  of  German  Lutherans  or  Reformed,  Scotch- 
Irish,  English,  and  children  of  Mennonite  parents  but 
who  had  left  the  church  of  their  fathers.  It  is  only 
within  very  recent  years  that  members  of  the  Mennon- 
ite church  have  begun  to  find  their  way  into  the  city. 
A  large  percentage  of  the  present  inhabitants  of  the 
city,  however,  trace  their  ancestry  back  to  the  early 
Mennonite  immigrants. 

With  the  Indians  the  Mennonites  were  usually  on 
good  terms.  We  saw  that  at  the  time  of  the  first  settle- 
ment the  Indians  were  still  found  in  the 
Relation  immediate  neighborhood  of  the  colony. 
to  Indians  Both  Conestoga  and  Pequea  Creeks  were 
named  after  the  tribes  of  Indians  found 
along  the  banks  of  these  respective  streams.  The 
Conestoga  Indians  were  early  transferred  across  the 
Conestoga  to  a  reservation  in  the  Manor  where  they 
had  a  village  bordering  on  the  land  purchased  by  some 
of  the  early  settlers.  As  early  as  June  8,  1711,  Gov- 
ernor Gookin  visited  these  Indians  and  in  a  speech 
to  them  said  that  Penn  intended  to  present  them  with 


THE   PEQUEA   COLONY  165 

a  belt  of  wampum  and  that  he  required  their  friendship 
to  the  Palatines  settled  near  Pequea.^^  The  Indians 
replied  that  since  they  were  at  war  with  the  Tus- 
caroras  they  did  not  think  the  place  safe  for  any  Chris- 
tians. They  were  afraid  furthermore  that  if  any  dam- 
age should  happen  to  these  the  blame  would  fall  upon 
them. 

The  Mennonites  evidently  felt  no  alarm  and  do 
not  seem  to  have  been  molested  by  the  Indians  during 
the  earlier  years.  But  as  the  settlement  grew  they 
found  themselves  encroaching  upon  the  lands  of  their 
red  skinned  neighbors.  On  November  2,  1717,  the 
Board  of  Property  reported  that 

the  late  settlements  on  and  near  Conestoga  Creek  hath  made 
it  necessary  that  the  Indian  fields  about  the  town  be  enclosed 
ty  a  good  fence  to  secure  the  Indians  corn  from  the  horses, 
cattle  and  hogs  of  these  new  settlers  that  would  otherwise 
■destroy  it  and  thereby  cause  an  uneasiness  in  those  Indians. 8* 

It  was  not  until  the  French  and  Indian  war,  from 
1754  to  1763  that  the  Mennonites  sufifered  seriously  at 
the  hands  of  the  Indians.  The  frontier  line  at  this 
time  was  run  along  the  Susquehanna  on  the  west  and 
the  Blue  Mountains  on  the  north.  This  whole  region 
was  occupied  by  the  Germans,  among  them  the  Men- 
nonites in  Lancaster  county  and  the  Amish  in  Berks, 
Just  how  many  Mennonites  were  killed  by  the  Indians 
will  never  be  known  but  from  a  few  scattered  refer- 
ences we  can  make  at  least  an  estimate.  A  letter  writ- 
ten to  Switzerland  by  Ulrich  iEngel,  Christian  Brech- 
biihl,  and  Isaac  Neuschwander  under  date  of  December 
7,  1755,  says  that  Hans  Jacob  Konig  had  left  his  wife 
and  three  young  children  with  Abraham  Herr  at  Con- 


83.     Colonial  Records,  II.   532-3. 

S4.     Pa.  Arch.  Second  Series,   XIX.  626. 


166  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

estoga  but  that  he,  with  a  son,  daughter  and  a  servant 
"had  settled  on  the  frontier  among  the  Indians  at  a  place 
called  "Shamogen".  Other  families  followed.  The 
Indians  having  warned  them  repeatedly  that  they  had 
trespassed  on  Indian  territory,  suddenly  fell  upon  the 
settlers,  murdered  six  families  and  burned  their  houses. 
Thirteen  persons  were  killed,  including  Konig.  His 
son  and  daughter  were  carried  away  as  captives.®'^ 

So  great  was  the  loss  of  life  and  property  all  along 
the  frontiers  of  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia  where  the 
Mennonites  had  settled  that  in  1758  they  found  it  nec- 
essary to  send  to  Holland  for  aid.  They  sent  over  two 
of  their  number  Martin  Funk  and  Johannes  Schneyder 
with  a  letter  dated  September  7,  1758,  written  by 
Michael  Kaufman,  Jacob  Borner,  Samuel  Bohm  and 
Daniel  Stauffer, — all  Lancaster  names.  This  letter 
says  that  over  two  hundred  families  in  Pennsylvania 
had  during  a  recent  incursion  in  May  lost  all  of  their 
property  and  that  fifty  of  their  number  were  dead.  Of 
course  this  number  refers  to  all  the  frontiers-men  who 
suffered,  but  must  no  doubt  include  a  number  of  Men- 
nonites. The  envoys  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  contri- 
bution of  fifty  pounds  sterling  and  departed  again  for 
America  December  17,  1758.  ^^ 

We  have  already  seen  that  the  Provincial  author- 
ities early  became  suspicious  of  the  increasing  number 

of  German  immigrants.    The  privilege 
Naturalization      of  naturalization  without  which  no  one 

could  enjoy  the  full  rights  of  citizenship 


■85.  Muller,  Geschiclite  der  Bernischen  Taufer,  365.  See  also  Rupp,  Lan- 
caster County  353,  and  Pa.  Arch.,  First  Series  III.   194. 

S6.  Pa.  Mag.  of  History,  II.  136.  For  the  list  of  letters  written  at  this 
time  to  Amsterdam  see  de  Hoop  Scheffer's  catalog  of  docu- 
ments in   the  Amsterdam  Mennonite   Church. 


THE   PEQUEA   COLONY  167 

was  often  very  grudgingly  conferred.  In  1683  before 
German  immigration  had  begun  it  was  provided  that 
all  foreigners'^  who  had  taken  the  oath  of  allegiance  to 
the  king  and  to  Penn  were  to  be  thereby  to  all  intents 
naturalized.*'  This  law  was  repealed  in  1705  by  Par- 
liament, and  from  this  time  until  1742  naturalizations 
were  by  private  act.  It  often  took  years  of  petitioning 
and  waiting  before  the  Assembly  would  grant  the 
rights  of  citizenship.  The  unnaturalized  were  under 
■many  disadvantages.  At  first  these  disadvantages  were 
not  so  apparent  and  we  find  the  Mennonites  rather  slow 
in  becoming  British  subjects.  As  early  as  1691,  how- 
ever, Hendrick  Casselberg  and  Clas  Jansen  of  German- 
town  were  naturalized.  They  were  followed  in  1698  by 
Hans  Neus,  Paul  Engle  and  others.'^  Petitions  by 
others  were  sent  to  the  General  Assembly  in  1706  ^"^ 
and  again  in  1709.®^  But  it  was  not  until  September  29, 
1709,  that  the  Mennonites  as  a  body  in  and  around 
Germantown  were  granted  the  rights  of  naturalization 
and  thus  were  given  equal  civil  rights  with  their  Eng- 
lish neighbors."-  No  Lancastrians  seem  to  have  been 
naturalized  until  1729. 

The  disadvantages  under  which  the  unnaturalized 
were  placed  is  very  well  stated  by  an  entry  which  ap- 
pears in  the  minute  book  of  the  Board  of  Property 


87.     Foreign   here   means    non-English. 

:88.  For  a  good  discussion  on  Naturalization  in  Pennsylvania  see  Ameri- 
can  Historical   Review,   IX.   300   ff. 

^89.     Pa.  Ger.  Soc.  VIII.   189. 

90.     Colonial   Records.    II.    241. 

■91.     Votes  of  the  Assembly.  II.  48. 

"92.  Col.  Rec,  II.  493.  The  full  list  is  given  here  including  Pastorius, 
Dirk  Keyser,  Kiinders,  etc.     See  also  Statutes  at  Large,  II.  299. 


168  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

tinder  date  of  September  22,  1717.     The  entry  is  as 
follows : 

Martin  Kendig,  Hans  Heer  and  Hans  Funk  with  several 
other  of  the  Palatines,  their  countrymen  having  applied  to 
purchase  land  near  Conestoga  and  Pequea  Creek  to  ac- 
commodate those  of  them  who  have  lately  arrived  in  this 
province,  who  are  their  Relations,  friends  and  acquaintances 
and  whom  they  assure  the  board  are  Honest  and  Conscien- 
tious people.  Their  request  being  considered  and  the  circum- 
stances of  those  people  in  relation  to  their  holding  of  Lands 
in  the  Dominion  of  Great  Britian  were  asked  if  they  under- 
stood the  Disadvantage  they  were  under  by  their  being  born 
aliens,  that  therefore  their  children  could  not  inherit,  nor 
they  themselves  convey  to  others  the  Lands  they  purchase 
according  to  the  laws  of  England  which  may  in  such  case  be 
extended  hither.  They  answered  they  were  informed  thereof, 
before.  However,  inasmuch  as  they  had  removed  themselves 
and  families  into  this  province  they  were,  not  with  standing 
the  said  disadvantages  willing  to  purchase  lands  for  their  own 
dwelling.  It  was  further  said  by  the  commissioners  that  it  was 
their  business  to  sell  and  dispose  of  the  proprietor's  lands  to 
such  as  would  purchase  it  yet  at  the  same  time  they  were  will- 
ing to  let  them  know  as  they  are  aliens  the  danger  that  might 
ensue  if  not  in  time  prevented,  also  that  some  years  ago  a  law 
was  enacted  here  and  afterwards  passed  by  the  late  Queen 
Anne  for  enabling  divers  Aliens  particularly  named  there- 
in to  hold  and  enjoy  lands  in  this  province  and  that  the  like 
advantage  might  probably  be  obtained  for  those  amongst 
themselves  that  were  of  good  report  if  a  petition  were  pre- 
ferred to  this  present  assembly,  when  they  sit  to  do  business. 
With  this  advice  they  seemed  pleased  and  desired  to  be  in- 
formed when  such  a  sitting  of  the  assembly  would  be  that 
they  might  prefer  a  petition  to  them  for  such  a  law  as  is 
above  mentioned. ^^ 

Petitions  for  the  above  privilege  were  sent  to  the 
Assembly,  but  this  was  just  the  time,  it  will  be  remem- 


93.     Pa.   Arch.   Second   Series,   XIX.   624.' 


THE   PEQUEA   COLONY  169 

bered,  when  Governor  Keith  was  especially  alarmed  at 
the  German  immigration,  and  it  appears  that  no  atten- 
tion was  paid  to  the  demands  of  the  petitioners.  Keith 
was  followed  by  Gordon,  who  was  more  liberal,  and  it 
was  under  Governor  Gordon's  administration  that  the 
Mennonites  of  Lancaster  county  were  finally  permitted 
to  become  British  subjects  and  thereby  acquire  the 
right  to  "sell  and  bequeath"  their  lands.  Before 
naturalization  had  been  granted  them 

they  were  obliged  to  swear^^  to  the  value  of  their  possessions 
and  declare  their  religious  views.  They  were  denounced  as 
being  peculiar  in  dress,  religion  and  notions  of  political 
government  and  resolved  to  speak  their  own  language  and 
acknowledge  but  the  great   Creator  of  the   Universe.^'J 

The  bill  of  1729  was  the  result  of  a  petition  made 
November  27,  1727,  by  "Wendal  Bowman,  Martin 
Meiling  and  Benedick  Hearsay  in  behalf  of  themselves 
and  others  called  Menists"  asking  permission  to  bring 
in  a  bill  "to  enable  them  to  hold  lands  and  trade  in  the 
said  Province"  which  was  presented  to  the  House, 
read  and  ordered  to  lie  on  the  table.®®  The  year  1727 
was  another  year  however,  of  heavy  immigration  and 
the  petition  was  not  immediately  granted.  It  was  dis- 
cussed at  various  times  during  the  following  year  and 
finally  on  December  14,  1728,  permission  was  given 
by  the  Assembly  to  present  such  a  bill.^^  In  the  mean- 
time the  Governor  had  made  inquiry  regarding  the 
general  character  of  the  petitioners.  In  his  message 
to  the  Assembly  in  1729  he  reported  that  these  people 


94.  Or  affirm. 

95.  Diffenderfer,  Odds  and  Ends  of  Local  History;    in  Lancaster  County 

Historical    Society    report   on    June    1,    1906. 

96.  Votes  of  the  Assembly,   III.  42,  45,   70. 

97.  Votes,   III.  71,72. 


170  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

are  principally  such  who  many  years  since  came  into  this 
province  under  a  particular  agreement  with  our  late  honor- 
able Proprietary  at  London  and  have  regularly  taken  up 
Lands  under  him.  It  likewise  appears  to  me  by  good  infor- 
-mation  that  they  have  hitherto  behaved  themselves  well  and 
have  generally  so  good  a  character  for  Honesty  and  Industry 
as  to  deserve  the  esteem  of  this  Government  and  a  Mark  of 
its  regard  for  them.  I  am  therefore  inclined  from  these 
considerations  to  favor  their  request  and  hope  you  will  join 
with  me  in  passing  a  bill  for  their  naturalization.^^ 

The  bill  was  accordingly  passed^''  but  efforts  were 
-made  at  the  same  time  to  discourage  further  immigra- 
tion of  Germans  by  providing  for  a  levy  of  a  head-tax 
•of  forty  shillings  on  every  alien  who  should  come  into 
the  province.  This  was  the  last  Mennonite  petition 
for  naturalization  except  the  one  in  1742  when  the 
Amish  of  Lancaster  county,  as  we  have  already  seen, 
asked  for  the  right  of  naturalization,  but  a  little  later 
the  general  law  was  passed  which  was  made  to  cover 
the  cases  of  all  aliens.^"'' 

Most  of  the  Palatine  immigrants  in  Pennsylvania 
•during  the  eighteenth  century  were  poor  people,  and 
the  Mennonites  were  no  exception.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  Telner  and  Van  Bebber  of  Germantown  and 
Herr,  Kendig  and  Meilin  of  Pequea,  all  of  whom 
became  owners  of  from  one  to  six  thousand  acres, 
the  early  settlers  owned  very  little  of  this  world's 
goods  when  they  landed  at  Philadelphia.     And  even 


98.  Votes  and  Proceedings,  III.   100. 

99.  The   names    of   all    who    were    naturalized   by    this    act    are   found    in 

Pennsylvania  Statutes  at  Large,  IV,  148.  The  list  is  made  up 
almost  exclusively  of  Mennonites  and  no  doubt  contains  practically 
all  the  Mennonite  male  inhabitants  of  tvirenty-one  years  of  age  in 
the  county.  The  list  contains  one  hundred  and  thirteen  names. 
400.  For  further  legislation  on  naturalization  and  the  dispute  between  the 
assembly  and  Governor  Thomas  in  1741  see  Votes  and  Proceedings 
III.    451-3,   460,   466,  472,  488,   SOS,   SIS,   etc. 


THE  PEQUEA   COLONY  171 

these  men  are  likely  to  be  considered  wealthier  than 
they  really  were.  One  thousand  acres  of  wild  land  at 
that  time  was  by  no  means  a  fortune. '°^  The  fact  that 
by  1745  the  whole  Pennsylvania  colony  of  Mennonites 
did  not  consider  itself  able  to  print  the  Martyrs 
Mirror,  and  that  in  1758  they  felt  obliged  to  ask  help 
from  Holland  to  make  good  the  losses  from  Indian  in- 
cursions shows  that  by  that  time  they  could  by  na 
means  be  considered  rich. 

During  the  period  preceding  the  Revolutionary 
war,  and  even  later  it  was  the  practice  of  all  emi- 
grants, who  did  not  have  sufficient 
Rftdemptioners  money  to  pay  their  passage  across  the 
ocean,  to  sell  their  services  for  a 
number  of  years  to  some  ship  captain  in  return  for 
free  passage.  The  captain  then  owned  the  labor  of 
the  emigrant  and  could  dispose  of  it  as  he  saw  fit. 
Usually  the  services  of  such  people  was  sold  by  the 
captain  at  auction  to  the  highest  bidder  soon  after 
the  ship's  arrivah^^^    The  persons  who  thus  sold  their 


101.  The  price  of  land  in  1717  was  ten  pounds  per  hundred  acres  and  one- 

shilling  quit  rent. 

102.  "Every  day  Englishmen,  Dutchmen  and  High  German  people  came 
from  the  city  of  Philadelphia  and  other  places,  some  from  a  great 
distance,  sixty  miles  and  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  away  and' 
go  on  board  the  newly  arrived  ship  that  has  brought  and  oflers  for 
sale  passengers  from  Europe  and  select  among  them  the  healthy 
persons  such  as  they  deem  suitable  for  their  business  and  bargain 
with  them  how  long  they  will  serve  for  their  passage  money,  for 
which  most  of  them  are  still  in  debt.  When  they  have  come  to 
an  agreement  it  happens  that  adult  persons  bind  themselves  in  writ- 
ing to  serve  three,  four,  five  or  six  years  for  the  amount  due  by  them 
according  to  their  age  and  strength.  But  very  young  people  from 
ten  to  fifteen  must  serve  until  they  are  21."  Gottlieb  Mittelberger, 
Journey  to  Pennsylvania,   (1754),  p.  26. 

"The  reason  we  (Lutherans)  are  invited  to  go  to  a  distance  here- 
and  there  are  the  following:  Our  German  Evangelical  inhabitants 
for  the  most  part  came  latest  into  this  province.     The  Entli»h  and 


172  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

services  were  called  redemptioners.  A  large  portion 
of  the  immigrants  into  Pennsylvania  were  of  this  class 
of  settlers. 

The  number  of  Mennonite  redemptioners  was 
perhaps  comparatively  small,  because,  although  many 
may  have  been  poor,  their  friends  who  were  already 
here,  if  necessary,  paid  their  passage  money  which  was 
to  be  returned  later  either  in  money  or  perhaps  in 
labor.  But  this  was  not  always  the  case.  There  are 
many  family  traditions  which  point  to  the  fact  that 
Mennonites  were  occasionally  sold  as  redemptioners, 
sometimes  to  their  own  Mennonite  brethren.  Jost 
Yoder,"^  the  founder  of  a  long  line  of  Yoders,  well 
known  in  the  Amish  church  today,  bound  his  children 
to  service  to  help  pay  the  passage  money  for  the 
family.  Frederick  Alderfer  in  1734  was  sold  in 
Philadelphia  to  a  man  who  lived  in  Montgomery 
county.^^*  The  traffic  in  redemptioners  was  profitable, 
and  frequently  ship  captains  would  steal  young  chil- 
dren or  entice  both  children  and  grown  people  into 
their  vessels  and  then  sell  them  on  this  side  of  the 
water.  Melchior  Plank,  an  Amishman,  an  ancestor  of 
Bishop  David  Plank  of  Logan  county,  Ohio,  was  in- 


German  Quakers,  the  Inspired,  the  Mennonites,  Separatists  and  other 
such  small  sects  came  in  first  when  the  land  was  still  cheap.  These 
selected  for  themselves  the  richest  tracts  of  land  and  arc  now  en- 
riched. But  in  later  years  after  the  poor  Evangelicals  also  found 
their  way  and  numerously  came  into  this  country  also  some  perhaps 
here  and  there  still  found  good  land.  Most  of  them,  however,  had 
to  serve  for  their  passage  as  men-servants  and  maid-servants  and 
afterwards  shift  with  the  poor  land  and  cat  their  bread  in  the 
copious  sweat  of  their  brows."  Muhlenberg  in  "Hallischc  Nach- 
richten"  II,  51. 

103.  An    Amishman.      Landed    at    Philadelphia,    1744.      Settled    later    in 

Berks  County. 

104.  See  Heckler,  History  of  Lower  Salford  Township,  p.  220. 


THE   PEQUEA   COLONY  173 

vited  together  with  his  wife  by  a  ship  captain  on  board 
a  vessel  just  ready  to  sail.  They  were  both  brought  to 
Pennsylvania  and  sold  to  a  Mr.  Morgan  either  in 
Berks  or  Lancaster  county.  Philip  Lantz,  when  a  boy 
of  five  was  kidnapped  in  Europe  and  brought  to 
Baltimore.  From  here  he  was  taken  to  Lancaster 
county,  where  he  was  bound  to  Peter  Yordy  of 
Lampeter  township  until  he  was  twenty-one  years  old. 
Lantz  served  Yordy  until  his  time  had  expired  and 
then  married  one  of  his  master's,  daughters. ^^'^  These 
are  only  a  few  instances  of  this  practice.  No  doubt 
many  of  the  early  Mennonite  settlers  of  Lancaster 
county  had  similar  experiences. 

Concerning  the  church  life  of  the  Pequea  colonists 
we  know  even  less  than  of  their  secular  life.    But  since 

they  had  at  least  one  minister  among  them 
Church  in  the  person  of  Hans  Herr,  it  is  likely  that 

Buildings      a  church  was  organized  immediately  after 

the  settlement  began.  The  meetings  of 
course  were  held  for  a  number  of  years  in  private 
houses.  These  houses  at  first  were  made  of  logs,  but 
as  the  settlement  became  older  these  were  replaced 
frequently  by  large  stone  buildings  made  from  the 
lime  and  sandstone  with  which  the  county  abounded, 
many  of  which  stood  for  over  one  hundred  years.  In 
1719  Christian  Herr  erected  a  large  stone  dwelling 
house  north  of  the  Pequea  which  is  still  standing, 
today  the  oldest  building  in  Lancaster  county."* 
Within  the  heavy  walls  of  this  old  building  was  often 
heard  the  message  of  the  Gospel  as  it  fell  from  the  lips 


105.  See  Egle,  Notes  and  Queries,  vol.  III. 

106.  For   a    good    description    of   this    house    see   article    in   the    "Home" 
August   5,    1905,   by   George   N.    Le   Fevre. 


174  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

of  old  Hans  Herr,  Benedict  Brechtbiihl,  or  some  other 
devoted  preacher  of  the  time. 

The  earliest  settlement,  as  we  saw,  occupied  the 
tier  of  townships  immediately  south  of  Lancaster  city. 
The  nucleus  of  the  colony  evidently  was  near  where 
the  present  Brick  church  stands  near  Willow  Street, 
From  here  to  the  east,  west  and  gradually  to  the  north- 
west and  northeast  centers  of  worship  with  church 
houses  were  gradually  established.  The  settlement,  as 
wc  have  seen,  never  .extended  very  far  to  the  south 
because  of  the  poor  soil  in  that  region.  Wherever 
centers  of  settlements  were  established,  congregations 
were  organized.  The  congregation  usually,  of  course,, 
preceded  the  meeting  house  by  a  number  of  years. 
South  of  Lancaster  city  a  log  house  was  erected  in  the 
region  now  called  Byerland  as  early  as  1747;  another 
at  Millersville  in  1756.  These  were  both  replaced  later 
by  more  substantial  buildings.  The  so-called  Stone 
meeting  house  was  put  up  in  1755  and  was  repaired 
later.  In  the  Strasburg  region  meetings  were  held 
for  many  years  in  private  houses.  There  is  still 
standing  near  Strasburg  a  house  built  in  1740  by  John 
Herr,  the  upper  story  of  which  was  especially  con- 
structed for  holding  church  services. ^°^  The  present 
stone  church  in  Strasburg  village  was  erected  in  1804. 
Further  south,  in  what  is  now  Providence  township,  a. 
meeting  house  was  put  up  as  early  as  1766.  One  mile 
west  of  Lancaster  city  a  log  house  was  erected  about 
1730  on  the  tract  of  land  purchased  by  Brubaker  and 
Hershey  in  1717.  In  the  northwestern  townships  of 
the  county  one  of  the  earliest  houses  to  be  erected  was 
the  Hernley  meeting  house  built  in  1766,  the  land  being" 


108.     Still  standing  one-half  mile  south- we&t  of  Strasburg. 


THE   PEQUEA   COLONY  175 

bought  in  1745.  The  Landisville  church,  made  of  logs 
in  1790,  is  still  standing.  The  Chestnut  Hill,  Risser 
and  Erisman  houses  were  all  built  before  1800.  About 
three  miles  east  of  Lancaster  stands  the  Mellinger  or 
what  was  formerly  the  Lampeter  meeting  house  which 
replaced  in  1884  a  stone  building  put  up  in  1767.  In  the 
northeastern  part  of  the  county  the  first  log  building 
for  worship  was  put  up  at  Grofifdale  about  1755.  The 
Weaverland  house  was  erected  in  1766  and  a  part  of 
the  walls  are  still  standing.  Farther  east  the  Bow- 
mansville  church  was  erected  in  1794.^°*  These  are  a 
few  of  the  oldest  buildings.  Many  others  were 
erected  during  the  nineteenth  century  throughout  the 
county.  There  are  at  present  fifty-one  places  of  wor- 
ship in  the  county. 

Few  of  these  old  meeting  houses  are  left.  The 
present  buildings  in  the  older  centers  are  of  the  third 
or  fourth  generation  of  meeting  houses,  the  first  being 
of  logs,  the  second  usually  of  stone,  and  the  third  of 
stone  or  brick.  In  the  walls  of  most  of  them  are  in- 
serted stone  blocks  with  the  date  of  the  first  stone 
structure  and  a  short  inscription.  The  inscription  on 
the  Strasburg  church  reads  as  follows : 

Built  by  the 

Mennonite  Society 

in  the  year  of  Christ 

whom  they  worship 

1804 

Many  of  the  later  inscriptions  have  the  word"  old"  pre- 


109.  Most  of  the  information  regarding  these  meeting  houses  has  been 
gained  from  personal  observation  and  from  Ellis  and  Evans'  History 
of  Lancaster  County,  corrected  from  other  sources. 


176  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

fixed  to  Mennonite  to  distinguish  the  main  body  from 
the  New  Meiinonites  or  Herrites  who  took  their  rise 
in  1811.  .^ 

Near  each  of  these  buildings  were  laid  out  the 
earliest  graveyards.  The  oldest  cemetery  in  the  county 
is  undoubtedly  the  one  near  the  Brick  church,  between 
the  church  and  the  old  Christian  Herr  house.  Here 
lies  buried  old  Hans  Herr  and  perhaps  others  of  the 
early  settlers.  The  earliest  graves  either  were  un- 
marked or  have  long  since  lost  all  signs  of  identifica- 
tion. The  jMennonites  were  so  much  opposed  to< 
publicity  and  outward  display  that  for  a  time  it  appears 
they  were  even  religiously  scrupulous  against  the  use 
of  tombstones.  The  very  earliest  immigrants  further- 
more, may  have  been  buried  in  some  out-of-the-way 
corner  of  their  farms.  The  stones  that  were  used  to- 
mark  their  last  resting  places,  if  any  were  used  at  all, 
were  small  and  made  of  slate  or  sand  stone  and  may 
long  ago  have  succumbed  to  the  wear  of  rains  and 
frosts.  Whatever  the  reason,  it  remains  true  that  with 
the  exception  of  Hans  Grofif  whose  grave  lies  dis- 
tinctly marked  in  the  Groffdale  cemetery,  we  are  un- 
able to  locate  with  certainty  the  final  resting  place  of  a 
single  one  of  these  early  pioneers  of  Lancaster  county. 
The  earliest  grave  with  any  record  in  the  Brick  church 
cemetery  bears  the  inscription . 

L.  G. 

1741 

So  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  discover,  this  is  the  oldest 
marked  Mennonite  grave  in  the  county. 

The  Mennonites  on  the  Pequea  did  not  suffer  for 


O  CfQ 


P  5 


5."    ^ 

CLi-pi  ffi 

pj   I— I 

^^  ^ 

§^ 

O   ^^ 

ilo 

o'  cr" " 


pj  o 


X 
H  o 


2  ^  ? 
w  ^  c 

"-<  re  "1 


THE   PEQUEA   COLONY  177 

want   of   preachers.     Many  of  the   early  immigrants 
were  ministers.     Old  Hans  Herr,  the  first 
Early  bishop,  was  followed  by  his  son  Christian, 

Preachers  Benedict  Brechtbiihl,  Jacob  Hostetter,"" 
Benjamin  Hershey^^^  and  others.  In  1725 
a  conference  was  held,  but  where  is  not  known,  of  the 
entire  Pennsylvania  church,  including  the  congrega- 
tions of  Skippack,  Germantown,  Great  Swamp,  Mana- 
tant  and  Conestoga,  as  the  Pequea  settlement  was 
then  called. ^^^  The  purpose  of  the  conference  is  not 
definitely  known  but  one  of  the  duties  of  those  present 
was  to  subscribe  their  names  to  an  appendix  which 
had  been  added  to  the  Confession  of  Faith  which  had 
been  translated  into  English  in  Amsterdam  in  1712. 
The  Conestoga  ministers  present  at  this  conference 
were  Hans  Burghaltzer,^^^  Christian  Herr,  Benedict 
Hirschi,"*  Martin  Baer  and  Johannes  Bowman.^^' 
Among  other  ministers  and  bishops  who  lived  during 
the  eighteenth  century  there  have  come  down  to  us 
the  names  of  Benjamin  Landis,^^'  Ben  Schantz,"^ 
Martin  Boehm,^^^  Tobias  Kryter,^^^  Friederich  Kauf- 
man,"^    Hans     Schantz,'^^     Christian     Bomberger,^^* 


110.  Per.  Abr.  R.  Burkholder  of  Willow  Street,  in  New  Era   (Lancastcr> 

Feb.    1,    1905. 

111.  Ellis  and  Evans,  History  of  Lancaster  County.  See  Index. 

112.  Lancaster   county   was   not   organized   until    1729. 

113.  Came  in  1717  with  Brechtbiihl.  See  Gotschalk  letter  quoted  by 
Pennypacker  in  Hendrick   Pennebecker. 

114.  Still  living  in  1770.  See  Morgan  Edward's  "Material  for  a  History 
of  American  Baptists"'  under  Mennonists.  Three  brothers,  Andrew, 
Benjamin  and  Christian  were  all  ministers. 

115.  See  Confession  of  Faith  of  1727,  printed  by  Bradford,  Philadelphia. 

116.  Harris,  History  of  Lancaster  County,  360.  Located  four  miles  cast 
of  Lancaster. 

117.  See  Gotschalk  letter  in  Hendrick  Pennebecker  by  Pennypacker. 

118.  Ordained  by  lot,   1756.  , 

119.  See  Gotschalk  letter. 

120.  In  Hammer  Creek  District.     Ellis  and  Evans.     See  Index. 


178  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

Christian  Burkholder,^-^  Henry  Martin/^i  Peter 
Risser/"  Jacob  Brubaker/-"  and  no  doubt  a  host  of 
others  who  were  faithful  preachers  of  the  Gospel  in 
their  day,  but  whose  names  now  if  not  entirely  for- 
gotten are  preserved  only  in  family  traditions. 

Lancaster  county  like  Germantown  soon  became 
a  center  for  the  peace  sects.     The  Mennonites  were 
followed  by  the  Dunkards  in  1724,  and 
Relation  to      by  the  Moravians  some  time  later,  who 
Dunkards  settled    in    the    region    of    Lititz.        The 

Dunkards  in  their  early  history  usually 
followed  up  the  Mennonites  in  their  wanderings. 
They  first  associated  with  them  in  Crefeld,  then  fol- 
lowed them  to  Germantown,  and  thence  to  Conestoga, 
Oley,  Great  Swamp,  and  to  many  other  of  the  early 
centers  on  Mennonitism.  This  was  due,  no  doubt,  to 
several  reasons.  The  Dunkards,  like  the  Mennonites 
had  an  instinct  for  finding  the  best  lands.  They  were 
so  much  like  the  Mennonites  in  faith  and  practice  that 
they  felt  very  much  at  home  among  them,  and  more- 
over the  Mennonites  furnished  good  proselyting 
material,  and  were  a  fruitful  field  for  Dunkard  mission- 
ary zeal. 

So  great  is  the  similarity  between  these  two 
denominations  that  we  can  but  conclude  that  the 
Dunkards  must  have  borrowed  many  of  their  religious 
practices  and  doctrines  from  the  Mennonites.  Both 
reject  infant  baptism,  oppose  the  bearing  of  arms  and 
the  taking  of  oaths.  Some  of  their  religious  practices 
are  similar;    the  kiss  of  peace,  the  use  of  the  prayer 


121.  In   Weaverland   District. 

122.  In  Root   District. 

123.  Ordained  bishop  in  1783  in  East  Hempfield.     Ellis  and  Evans. 


THE   PEQUEA   COLONY  179 

head-covering  and  bonnet  for  the  women,  and  feet- 
washing  at  the  communion  service. 

There  is  much  in  the  early  history  of  the  Dunkards 
to  bear  out  this  proposition.  Alexander  Mack  was 
their  founder.  At  first  a  member  of  the  Reformed 
church  he  became  dissatisfied  with  the  formalism  and 
ritualism  of  the  Reformed  religion,  and  with  seven 
others  he  left  the  church  in  1708.  During  the  year  he 
traveled  among  the  Mennonites  of  Germany  in  the 
hope  of  finding  among  them  the  people  nearest  to  his 
ideals  of  the  Christian  life.  But  learning  that  they 
would  not  admit  that  immersion  was  the  only  true 
mode  of  baptism  he  turned  from  them  and  was  himself 
immersed  by  one  of  the  group  which  with  him  had  left 
the  Reformed  church.^-*  He  then  baptized  by  trine 
immersion  the  rest  of  the  group  and  thus  became  the 
founder  of  a  new  church.  They  were  soon  driven  to 
Crefeld  and  there  gained  several  adherents  among  the 
Mennonites.  In  1719  they  came  to  Germantown  and 
there  again  won  over  some  of  the  Mennonites,  among 
them  Peter  Keyser,  son  of  Dirk  Keyser  and  for  many 
years  a  leading  minister  in  the  Dunkard  church.  In 
1724,  as  we  have  seen,  a  party  of  them  came  into  the 
Conestoga  region.  This  was  purely  a  proselyting  tour, 
for  having  heard  that  "in  the  Conestoga  country  were  a 
number  of  awakened  souls"^^^  they  decided  to  go  to 
that  locality.  Starting  one  November  day  from  Coven- 
try on  the  Schuylkill  where  a  congregation  had  been 
established,  they  divided  at  the  close  of  day  into  two 
parties  for  the  night.  They  had  by  this  time  arrived 
in  the  Groflfthal  and  Weberthal  region,  and  on  that 


124.  Brumbaugh,  History  of  the  Brethren,  p.  38. 

125.  Brumbaugh,   161. 


180  MENNOXITES    OF    AMERICA 

night  those  afoot  remained  with  Hans  Groff  and  those 
who  rode  spent  the  night  at  Jacob  Weber's.  The  next 
day  the  party  again  reunited  at  the  house  of  Rudolf 
Nagele,  also  a  Alennonite.  From  here  they  visited 
Conrad  Beissel,  who  was  soon  to  cause  the  Dunkards 
much  trouble.^-*'  Beissel  was  a  Pietist,  who  came  over 
from  Germany  in  1720,  and  at  this  time  was  leading  a 
hermit's  life  on  the  Conestoga.  This  little  band  of 
enthusiasts  left  its  mark  wherever  it  went.  A  few  days 
later  a  congregation  was  formed  on  Mill  Creek  with 
Beissel  himself  as  the  first  preacher.  There  do  not 
seem  to  have  been  any  Mennonites  in  this  first  group; 
but  it  is  likely  that  Rudolf  Nagele  joined  them  a  little 
later,  for  soon  the  meeting  was  held  in  his  house  in 
Earl  township  where  this  first  Dunkard  congregation 
in  the  Conestoga  region  worshiped  for  seven  years. ^-'^ 
During  the  following  years  a  number  of  familiar 
Mennonite  names  are  found  among  the  Dunkards — 
John  Landes,  Samuel  Good,  Henry  Sneider,  Peter 
Zug,  Henry  Nefif,  Hans  Grafif^-^  and  many  others  con- 
cerning   whose    previous    religious    faith    we    know 


126.  "Once  we  visited  Conrad  Matthew  at  Germantown  who  advised  us 
to  leave  those  regions  because  the  people  there  lived  in  vanity  and 
to  go  to  tlie  Conestoga  where  the  people  lived  in  great  simplicity  and 
which  was  like  a  new  Switzerland  to  look  upon.  In  August,  1727, 
we  moved  there.  For  a  while  we  adhered  to  the  Mennonites  bcause 
their   simplicity    pleased    us,    but   their   mode    of   worship    we    could 

never  adopt  ourselves It  is  yet  to  be  remembered  that 

these  same  good  people  (the  first  congregation  of  solitary  brethren, 
I  think)  had  after  the  manner  of  that  peoi)le  a  certain  simplicity 
and  lowliness  of  life  and  the  superintendent  (Beissel)  in  spite  of 
the  fact  that  he  had  had  experiences  in  the  world  of  vanity  and 
show  could  so  thoroughly  adapt  himself  to  their  ways  that  his 
clothing,  dwelling  and  household  were  fashioned  on  the  poorest 
scale."     Chronicon   Ephratense,  p.   35. 

127.  Brumbaugh,  299. 

128.  Not  the  pioneer  of  Groff 's  Thai.     Perhaps  a  son. 


THE   PEQUEA   COLONY  181 

-nothing  but  whose  names  bear  almost  certain  evidence 
that  they  were  of  Mennonite  descent.^^^  In  1728 
Beissel  withdrew  from  the  Dunkards  and  established 
on  the  Cocalico  Creek  at  Ephrata  the  well  known 
Seventh  Day  Baptist  monastic  community.  Several 
Mennonites  also  became  involved  in  this  movement, 
among  them  Michael  Eckerlin^^°  who  was  soon  to 
become  one  of  the  leading  spirits  and  John  Meylin,  son 
of  Hans  Meylin,  the  pioneer.^^^ 

The  attempts  in  1741  of  Count  Zinzendorf,  the 
Moravian,  to  unite  the  religious  efforts  in  Pennsylvania 
■did  not  affect  the  Lancaster  county  Mennonites  as  it 
did  their  brethren  in  Berks  county.  The  Wesleyan 
revival  struck  the  county  a  little  later  and  resulted  in 
the  apostacy  of  Martin  Boehm,  a  leading  Mennonite 
minister  south  of  Willow  Street.  Boehm  became  one 
of  the  founders  of  the  United  Brethren  church  and 
later  one  of  the  pioneer  Methodists  in  the  region. 

The  Mennonites,  as  has  already  been  said,  were 
not  a  proselyting  people  and  gained  very  few  ad- 
herents from  other  churches.  The 
Mennonites  not  Lutherans  and  Reformed  were,  during 
Proselyters  the  early  years,  without  much  church 

organization  and  in  that  condition  no 
doubt  would  have  fallen  an  easy  prey  to  missionary 
zeal  among  the  other  churches.  Many  of  them  found 
their  way  into  the  Dunkard  church,  but  few  into  the 
Mennonite.  On  the  contrary  many  Mennonites  in  later 
years  joined  the  Reformed  and  Lutheran  churches, 
A  few  of  the  Huguenots,  however,  who  drifted  into 


129.  See  Brumbaugh,  p.  307  for  complete  list  of  members  up  to  1770. 

130.  Pa.  Ger.  Soc.  Proceedings,  XV.  205. 

131.  Rupp,  History  of  Lancaster  County,  p.  74. 


182 


MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 


Pennsylvania  from  New  York,  such  men  as  the  Le 
Fevers  in  Lancaster  county  and  some  of  the  De  Turks 
in  Berks  county,  the  Bertolets  and  Fahrnis,  cast  their 
lot  with  the  Mennonites.  The  entire  number,  how- 
ever, that  the  Mennonite  church  received  from  other 


Conestoga  Wagon.     See  p.   163. 


'Churches  was  much  smaller  than  the  number  it  lost. 
Had  it  been  able  to  keep  its  young  men  and  women  in 
the  church  it  might  today  possess  the  solid  wealth  and 
influence  of  one  of  the  very  best  counties  in  the  state. 


CHAPTER  VI 


FRANCONIA 


We   have   already   seen   that   the   region   around 
Germantown  was  soon  all  occupied  by  the  immigrants, 
and  thus  the  later  arrivals  had  to  seek 
The  Skippack      homes  in  other  localities.     By  1702  a 
Region  new  settlement  had  already  been  be- 

gun on  the  Skippack  near  the  present 
little  village  of  Skippack.  From  this  center  a  large 
community  gradually  grew  by  natural  increase  and  by 
constant  immigration  from  Southern  Germany  and 
has  since  expanded  to  the  north  on  both  sides  of  the 
Skippack  over  an  area  about  ten  miles  in  width 
through  the  north  central  part  of  Montgomery  county, 
and  the  western  part  of  Bucks  county,  with  a  few 
scattered  settlements  in  Eastern  Berks,  and  Lehigh  and 
Southern  Northampton  county.  This  region  in  this 
chapter  is  spoken  of  as  the  Franconia  district  because 
among  the  Old  Mennonites  who  still  control  most  of 
the  congregations  here  it  constitutes  what  is  known 
as  the  Franconia  conference  district. 

It  will  be  impossible  here  to  name  the  first  settlers 
in  the  various  communities  in  this  region  and  to  tell 


184  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

the  exact  dates  of  the  organization  of 
Expansion  of  each  congregation.  They  are  all  the 
the  Pioneer  result  of  the  gradual  expansion  to  the 
Settlement  north  of  the  original  settlement,  and  a 

few  dates  and  names  must  suffice  to  in- 
dicate the  growth  of  the  church  in  this  part  of  the 
state  during  the  eighteenth  century. 

The  first  congregation  to  be  detached  from  the 
Skippack  community  was  the  one  at  Salford,  just  a  few 
miles  to  the  north.  As  early  as  1718  Henry  Ruth  and 
Hans  Reif  had  located  here.  These  were  soon  followed 
by  Christian  Allebach,  Christian  Meyers,  Hans  Ulrich 
Bergey,  Nicholas  Holderman.  Frederick  Alderfer, 
Christian  Stauiter,  Jacob  Funk,  Dielman,  Martin,  and 
Jacob  Kolb  and  others.  The  first  meeting  house  for 
this  congregation  was  built  about  1738. 

At  about  the  same  time  a  congregation  was  organ- 
ized at  Franconia  in  what  is  now  Franconia  township. 
The  pioneer  in  this  region  was  bishop  Henry  Funk  who 
settled  on  the  Indian  Creek  in  this  township  in  1719. 
The  tax  list  for  1734  shows  that  by  that  time  there  were 
in  the  region,  among  others  those  bearing  the  names 
Frey,   Rosenberger,   Oberholtzer,   Moyer,    Godschalk, 

€tC.2 

At  the  same  time  also  the  Mennonites  were  occu- 
pying the  region  to  the  east  of  the  Skippack.  The 
Towamencin  congregation,  north  of  Kulpsville,  was 
organized  perhaps  as  early  as  1750.  Settlers,  however, 
had    located    here    long    before.      Herman    Godshalk 


1.  For  a  detailed  account  of  the  early  settlement  of  Salford  township 
see  James  Y.  Heckler,  History  of  Lower  Salford  Township. 

2.  For  a  detailed  account  of  Mennonite  settlements  in  Franconia  Town- 
ship see  History  of  Franconia  Township,  by  Souder,  pub.  by  Benj. 
L.   Gehman,  Harleysville,   Pa.   1886. 


THE  FRANCONIA  BURYING  GROUND.  The 
old  burying  grounds  in  the  Franconia  district  are  sur- 
rounded by  stone  fences.  Some  of  the  earliest  pioneers 
lie  in  nameless  graves  in  these  cemeteries.  At  first  no 
stones  were  used,  and  later  the  stones  were  of  sand-stone 
which  have  long  since  succumbed  to  the  frost  and  rain. 
The  stones  in  the  oldest  quarter  of  this  cemetery  have 
decayed.  The  stones  which  appear  in  this  picture  all 
mark  recent  graves. 


rsi 
O 

O 


(4 


FRANCONIA  185 

bought  land  as  early  as  1720}  The  oldest  marked 
grave  in  the  churchyard  bears  the  date  1733.  The 
Methacton  congregation,  north  of  Fairview,  was  organ- 
ized before  1773. 

On  the  Perkiomen  the  Mennonites  made  few 
settlements,  being  preceded  by  the  Schwenkfelders 
who  still  occupy  nearly  the  whole  valley,  but  as  early 
as  1742  Muhlenberg,  the  Lutheran  preacher,  mentions 
a  meeting  house  south  of  the  Trappe,  near  the  Per- 
kiomen. Before  the  close  of  the  century  a  congrega- 
tion had  also  been  established  near  Schwenksville. 

In  what  is  now  Bucks  county,*  the  oldest  con- 
gregation is  the  Swamp  in  Milford  township,  near  the 
headwaters  of  the  Perkiomen.  One  of 
Bucks  the  earliest  settlers  in  the  locality  was 
County  Velte  Clemmer,  who  came  here  in  1717. 
By  1725  a  congregation  must  have  been 
established,  for  the  name  of  Clemmer  appears  as 
the  minister  from  the  Swamp  church  in  a  confer- 
ence which  was  held  that  year.  Among  other  resi- 
dents by  1734  were  Samuel  Musselman,  John  Byler, 
John  Yoder,  Sr.,  Jacob  and  Christian  Clemmer,  Abra- 
ham Shelley,  Jacob  Musselman,  etc.  A  little  to  the 
east  of  this  church  was  built  the  East  Swamp  meet- 
ing house  in  1771  on  land  donated  by  Ulrich  Drissel 
and  for  that  reason  it  is  sometimes  called  the  Drissel 
church.  North  of  the  Swamp  in  what  is  now  Lehigh 
county  on  Saucon  creek,  a  branch  of  the  Lehigh,  a 
congregation  had  been  established  very  early.  Hans 
Yode^  bought  land  here  in  1724^  and  was  followed  by 


3.  See  article  on  this  congregation  in  Family  Almanac  1875. 

4.  The   most   reliable    history    of    Bucks    County    is    the    one    written    by 

W.  H.  H.  Davis,  A.  M.  and  published  in  Doylestown,  Pa.   1876. 

5.  Pa.  Arch.   Sec.   Sen,  Vol.   XIX,  p.   726. 


186  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

men  bearing  the  names  Moyer, 'Gehman,  Schliefer  and 
a  number  of  immigrants  from  Holland  who  settled 
near  Coopersburg.  A  little  later,  but  before  1760,  a 
congregation  was  also  organized  to  the  east  in  Spring- 
field township,  Bucks  county.  Another  early  settle- 
ment was  likewise  made  in  the  center  of  Bucks 
on  the  Deep  Run  creek.  By  1746  the  first  meeting 
house  was  built.  The  ministerial  force  at  that  time 
consisted  of  Abraham  Swartz,  Hans  Friedt,  Samuel 
Kolb  and  Martin  Oberholtzer.  The  Line  Lexington 
congiegation  erected  its  first  house  in  1753.'  To  the 
northwest  of  the  Lexington  settlement  is  the  Hilltown 
or  Perkasie  church,  within  the  region  which  originally 
comprised  the  Perkasie  Manor.  Among  the  earliest 
Mennonite  settlers  here  were  Henry  Funk,  Christian 
Lederich,  Andrew  Godshalk,  Valentine  Kratz  and 
many  others,  all  of  whom  purchased  land  before  1750. 
In  the  eastern  part  of  Berks  county  a  community 
must  have  been  established  nearly  as  early  as  on  Indian 

creek  and  the  Swamp,  for  the  conference  re- 
Berks  port  of  1725  already  referred  to  mentions 
County     Daniel   Longenecker  and  Jacob   Bechtley  as 

the  two  ministers  representing  the  Manatant 
settlement  m  the  region  ot  the  Manatawny  creek. 
Among  the  earliest  settlers  in  this  region  were  Jacob 
"Stauffer,''  Henry  Staufifer,^  Hans  Bauer,  Hans  Jacob 
Bechtley,  and  Daniel  Longeneker.  These  pioneers 
"have  left  after  them  many  descendants  and  have  given 
names  to  two  of  the  largest  towns  in  this  locality, 
Boyertown    and    Bechtelville.     A   congregation    now 


6.  Cassel,   D.  K.   Geschichte  der  Mennoniten,  p.  242. 

7.  Bower,  H.  S.  Genealogical  Record  of  Daniel  Stauflfer,  Harleysville,  Pa. 

1897.     p.  27. 
8.     Ibid,    196. 


FRANCONIA  ISr 

called  Hereford  was  organized  north  of  the  Manatant 
in  the  northeastern  part  of  the  county.  The  first 
meeting  house  was  built  in  1755.  To  the  north  of 
Hereford  in  Upper  Milford  township,  Lehigh  county, 
another  meeting  house  was  erected  about  1740.*' 
Among  the  early  settlers  here  were  those  bearing  the- 
names  SchifBer,  Easier,  Mayer,  Schantz,^°  etc. 

In  the  meantime  several  Mennonite  communities 
had  been  located  along  the  Schulykill  in  Chester  county. 

South  of  Pottstown  in  East  Coventry  town- 
Chester  ship  stands  an  old  church  which  contains  sl 
County     stone  with  the  date  1728  inscribed  upon  it. 

In  Schuylkill  township  near  what  is  now 
Phoenixville  a  congregation  was  also  early  established- 
Hans  Staufifer,  who  came  to  America  in  1710,  soon 
after  his  arrival  located  near  Valley  Forge,  several; 
miles  to  the  east  of  Phoenixville.  In  1720  Francis 
Buchwalter,^^  the  progenitor  of  a  large  family,  also- 
settled  near  here.  These  were  followed  by  others 
with  such  names  as  Showalter,  Bender,  Haldeman, 
etc.  By  1750  they  were  worshiping  in  a  house  which 
was  also  used  by  other  denominations,  but  by  177Z 
they  had  erected  a  building  of  their  own.  Among 
their  well  known  ministers  were  Matthias  Pennebeker,. 


9.     Cassel,  264. 

10  See  account  of  this  settlement  in  History  of  Lehigh  County,  pub.  by- 
Matthews  and  Hungerford.        Phila.,   1884. 

11.  "Buckwaher,  a  Protestant  refugee  from  Germany,  was  subjected  to 
many  persecutions  in  the  Fatherland  because  of  his  faith  and  it  if 
a  matter  of  family  history  that  he  was  compelled  to  read  his  Bible 
by  stealth  concealed  in  a  cow  trough.  He  finally  concluded  to  flee 
and  after  leaving  his  home  was  pursued  for  three  days  by  his  vin- 
dictive Catholic  brothers  who  were  determined  upon  his  destruction. 
His  children  were  Joseph,  Jacob,  Johannes,  Mary,  and  Yost,  andi 
from  him  are  descended  all  the  Buckwalter  family  in  this  vicinity."' 
S.   W.   Pennypacker  in    Annals  of  Phoenixville,  p.  20. 


188  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

the  great-grandfather  of  ex-Governor  S.  W.  Penny- 
packer. 

These  are  the  earliest  Mennonite  communities  of 
the  Franconia  district.  Other  congregations  were  es- 
tablished in  the  same  general  locality  before  the  Rev- 
olutionary war.  But  soon  after  the  war  many  from 
here  moved  to  Ontario  and  other  newer  regions.  This 
together  with  the  fact  that  many  of  the  younger  ele- 
ment deserted  the  Mennonite  church  for  other  denom- 
inations accounts  for  the  slow  growth  in  the  district 
during  the  nineteenth  century.  Few  new  congrega- 
tions have  been  organized  since  1800,  while  several 
have  become  extinct. 

From  a  letter  written  to  the  church  at  Amsterdam 

in  1773  by  Andrew  Ziegler,  Isaac  Kolb,  and  Christian 

Communities  in        ^"^^    ^'^    ^^^™    ^^^^    the    following 

America  bv  1773       communities  had  been  established  in 

America  at  that  time : — 

Germantown,  Schiebach,  Indian  Krik,  [Franconia]  (to  which 
belong  also  Salford,  Rokkil  [Rockhill]  and  Schwammen), 
Deep  Ron  to  which  belong  Berkosen  on  the  Delaware  and 
Aufrieds,  Blen  [Plain],  Grooten  Swamb,  to  which  belong 
Sacken  and  Lower  ]\lilford,  in  two  places,  Hosenak,  Lehay 
and  Term,  Matetschen  [Methacton]  Schuylkill  (meeting  two- 
places). 

These  are  the  congregations  embraced  within  the 
region  described  in  this  chapter.  Farther  away  they 
say  are 

Conestogis,  where  are  many  large  congregations,  Quitophilia 
[Lebanon  county],  great  and  little  Schwatara  [Dauphin 
county],  Tulpehocken  [western  Berks  county].  On  the  other 
side  of  the  Susquehanna  by  Yorktown,  great  and  little  Cone- 
wago,     Mannekesie     [Monocacy].       To    Virginia,     Meriland, 


FRANCONIA  IS^" 

Schanatore    [Shenandoah]    and   further   to    Cardinal^   where 
are  many  and  large  congregations. 12 

In  their  every  day  life  the  Franconians  differed 
very  little  from  their  brethren  in  Lancaster  county. 

Many  of  them  came  from  the  same  region 
Every  in  Germany  and  had  the  same  customs  and 

Day  Life      practices.        In   Pennsylvania     both     w^ere 

among  the  earliest  pioneers  and  as  such 
endured  all  the  hardships  01  pioneer  life.  The  settle- 
ments in  Berks  county  forming  at  that  time  the  fron- 
tier line  were  frequently  subject  to  Indian  deprada- 
tions,  especially  during  the  French  and  Indian  war.^* 
In  August  1757  during  one  of  these  incursions  a  band 
of  Indians  murdered  a  number  of  the  settlers  includ- 
ing an  Amish  family  by  the  name  of  Hostetler.  Ac- 
cording to  the  traditions  handed  down  by  the  Hostet- 
ler descendants  the  whole  family  with  the  exception 
of  the  father  and  one  son,  Joseph,  was  killed.  These 
were  taken  captive,  but  the  boy  after  being  held  by  the 
Indians  for  seven  years,  finally  made  his  escape. 

In  industry  the  Franconians  were  not  behind  the 
Lancastrians,  but  living  upon  a  thinner  soil  they  never 
became  so  wealthy  and  prosperous. 


12.  Quoted   by   S.    W.    Pennypacker,   in   Hendrick   Pennebecker. 

13.  It  is  difficult  to  obtain  facts  regarding  the  settlement  in  Carolina  but 

it  is  evident  that  a  settlement  was  made  in  that  colony  very  early. 
Hans  Stauffer,  as  we  saw,  landed  there  in  1710.  Many  of  the  Pal- 
atines who  left  Germany  in  1709  found  their  way  to  Carolina,  and  it 
is  not  improbable  that  among  them  may  have  been  some  Mennon- 
ites.     The  congregation  however  could  not  have  been  very  large. 

14.  "Jan.   16,   1756.     Den  Tag  vorn  neuen  Yohr  haben  die  Menisten  von 

Schiebach  und  die  ferner  hinauf  v.'ohnen  7  wagen  mit  mehl  und  and- 
erm  Proviant  nach  Bethlehem  und  Nazareth  gesandt  vor  die  arme 
Leute  welche  dahin  gcfliichtet  sind  wegen  die  Indianern."  Quoted 
from  Sauer's  paper  in  "The  Perkiomen  Region,"  by  H.  S.  Dotterer, 
Vol.    1.  p.   30. 


190  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

In  literary  activity,  however,  they  surpassed  their 
more  prosperous  brethren.  The  men  who  signed  the 
letter  which  was  sent  to  Amsterdam  de- 
Literary  manding  a  translation  of  the  Martyrs'  Mirror 
Activity  were  all  from  Franconia,  Failing  in  interest- 
ing the  church  at  Amsterdam  in  the  project, 
the  work  of  translation  was  finally  undertaken  in 
Pennsylvania  under  the  supervision  of  two  Francon- 
ians.  The  first  Mennonite  writers  of  America,  Henry 
Funk  and  Christian  Funk,  were  both  from  Montgom- 
ery county.  In  1790  two  men  by  the  name  of  Hirstein. 
and  Smutz^^  from  the  same  county  went  to  Europe 
where  they  had  five  hundred  copies  of  Denner's  Ser- 
mons printed  at  their  own  expense  and  brought  them 
to  America  in  the  hope  of  selling  them.  Many  were 
sold  in  Montgomery  county  but  few  in  Lancaster. 
Finally  the  first  religious  paper  for  the  Mennonites 
was  published  in  1852  at  Milford  Square  in  Bucks- 
county. 

The  influence  of  these  early  settlements  upon 
the  Mennonite  church  at  large  has  not  been  small. 
The  Canadian  Mennonites  came,  as  we  saw. 
Influence  largely  from  Bucks  county.  Montgomery, 
Berks  and  Bucks  counties  are  also  claimed 
as  the  original  home  of  many  of  the  Mennonite 
communities  throughout  the  country.  Among  the 
most  common  names  within  this  district  are  the 
following:  Funk,  Staufer,  Godshalk,  Ziegler,  Clem- 
mer  or  Clymer,  Roth,  Bechtel,  Boyer,  Moyer,  Ber- 
gey,  Detweiler,  Hallman,  Gehman,  Bauman,  Kolb, 
Pennebecker,    Frey,    Showalter,    Kratz,    Oberholtzer, 


IS.     Mennonite  Year   Book  and  Almanac,    1906,   p.   8. 


FRANCONIA  191 

Longenecker,  Yoder,  Hunsicker,  Alderfer,  Wam- 
bold,  Haldeman,  Fretz,  High,  Geisinger,  Schliefer, 
Geil,  Benner,  Heistand,  Souder,  Allebach  and  Beidler. 
Many  of  these  have  become  familiar  throughout  vari- 
ous parts  of  the  country  both  within  and  without  the 
Mennonite  church. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  EXPANSION  OF  THE  PEQUEA  COLONY 
FROM  1750  TO  1800^ 

Long  before  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century 
the  best  lands  of  Southeastern  Pennsylvania  had  been 
occupied  by  the  German  and  Scotch- 
Overflow  of  Irish  immigrants.  Consequently  the  rapid 
Southeastern  growth  of  the  native  population  together 
Pennsylvania  with  the  continuous  stream  of  new  arriv- 
als which  kept  pouring  into  the  province 
as  late  as  the  French  and  Indian  war  made  it  neces- 
sary for  the  younger  generation  as  well  as  the 
later  immigrants  to  seek  homes  farther  out  on 
the  frontier.  The  Scotch-Irish,  bolder  and  given 
more  to  a  roving  life  than  the  Germans,  usually 
ventured  out  first  into  the  wilderness.  Here  they 
frequently  built  their  cabins  along  some  stream  and 
devoted  their  time  to  hunting,  fishing  and  a  little 
farming.  Or  sometimes  they  located  in  the  fertile 
valleys,  but  if  they  did  they  soon  made  way  for  the 


Most  of  the  information  in  this  chapter  has  been  gained  from  various 
county  and  other  local  histories,  from  the  records  in  the  deed  books 
at  the  various  county  seats,  and  from  manuscripts  kindly  furnished 
by  such  local  historians  as  Bishop  1,.  J.  Heatwole  of  Dale  Enterprise, 
V«.,  and  D.   S.  Lesher  of  Shippensburg,  Pa. 


EXPANSION  OF  PEQUEA  COLONY     193 

more  thrifty  Germans  who,  coming  for  the  purpose  of 
establishing  permanent  homes,  usually  spied  out  the 
most  fertile  spots  for  their  future  dwelling  places. 
Since  the  two  races  never  were  congenial  neighbors, 
the  Scotch-Irish  usually  moved  on,  thus  leaving  to  the 
Germans  the  fat  of  the  land. 

Very    early   the    Germans    of    Lancaster    county 

crossed  the  Susquehanna  into  the  Cumberland  Valley, 

in  what  are  now  York  and  Cumberland 

^  ^  ,  ,  counties,  and  then  down  the  valley, 
Cumberland       ,  ,    \t       i       i   •    .      .1       r     .1     01 

through  Maryland  mto  the  fertile  bhen- 

andoah.  Others,  soon  after  the  French 
and  Indian  war,  ascended  the  Susquehanna,  and  cros- 
sing the  Alleghenies,  established  homes  along  the 
banks  of  the  Juniata.  Among  the  earliest  of  these 
pioneers  were  the  Mennonites,  who  occasionally  came 
as  individuals  with  their  neighbors  and  friends,  but 
more  frequently  settled  in  small  colonies,  which  were 
large  enough,  however,  to  form  church  congregations. 

We  have  already  seen  that  such  communities 
were  established  before  1773  in  Dauphin  county,  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Swatara,  ajid  in  Lebanon  county, 
on  the  Quittaphia  and  on  the  Little  Swatara. 

The  first  settlement  west  of  the  Susquehanna  in 
York  county  was  made  even  earlier,  perhaps  about 

1750,  between  the  Conewago  and  Little  Con- 
York  ewago  in  Dover  township.  Just  when  the 
County     first  Mennonite  settlers  located  in  this  region 

is  not  known  but  by  1753  the  colony  was 
large  enough  to  effect  a  church  organization.  Anoth- 
er early  congregation  was  organized  east  of  Hanover 
in  Heidelberg  township.  In  1774  John  and  Thomas 
Penn   granted   to   Michael    Danner   twelve   acres   of 


194  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

land  for  the  use  of  the  Mennonite  church.  The  col- 
ony must  have  existed  some  time  before  this,  how- 
ever, for  Michael  Danner,  evidently  a  Mennonite, 
resided  here  in  1749  in  which  year  he  was  made  one 
of  the  commissioners  to  organize  York  county.  Soon 
after  the  grant  of  land  was  made,  a  building  was 
erected  for  church  and  school  purposes.  Some  time 
after  this  a  church  was  also  established  east  of  York 
near  Stony  Brook  station.  This  was  followed  later 
by  other  congregations  in  the  southwestern  part  of 
the  county,  between  the  headwaters  of  the  Little  Con- 
ewago  and  Codorus  creeks.  All  of  these  churches 
were  established  by  settlers  from  Lancaster  county 
as  can  be  seen  by  the  appearance  in  the  land  records 
of  such  familiar  names  as  Hershey,  Reifif,  Rodes, 
Brubaker,  Bare,  Kaufifman,  Frantz,  Danner,  Shenk,. 
Welty,  Roth,  Garber  and  so  forth. 

Cumberland  and  Franklin  counties  occupy  a  val- 
ley between  two  parallel   ranges  of  the  Blue  Ridge 

which  form  a  gateway  from  Southeast- 
Cumberland  ern  Pennsylvania  through  Maryland  into- 
and  Franklin  the  Shenandoah  country.  This  valley. 
Counties  called  the  Cumberland,  is  drained  by  the 

Conococheague  which  flows  south  into 
the  Potomac,  and  the  Conedogwinet  which  flows 
northeast  into  the  Susquehanna.  It  was  through  this- 
gateway  that  the  Pennsylvania  Germans  early  passed 
into  Virginia,  and  it  was  along  these  streams  that  the 
first  Mennonite  settlements  of  the  region  were  made. 
Mennonite  communities  seem  to  have  been  established 
in  Franklin  county  earlier  than  in  Cumberland,  which 
was  nearer  to  Lancaster  and  York  than  was  Franklin,, 
but  later  than  in  Washington  county,  Maryland,  and 


EXPANSION   OF   PEQUEA   COLONY  195 

in  the  Shenandoah  Valley.  It  is  altogether  likely  that 
•of  the  stream  of  settlers  that  began  to  enter  the 
Shenandoah  Valley  about  1730  individual  Mennonites 
settled  here  and  there  through  the  Cumberland  Valley 
in  Franklin  and  Cumberland  counties  and  in  Maryland, 
perhaps  even  before  the  Shenandoah  settlements  were 
made.  There  is  no  record,  however,  of  such  settle- 
ments. 

Several  Mennonites  seem  to  have  located  in 
Franklin  as  early  as  1735,  among  whom  were  Jacob 
Schnebele  and  Samuel  Bechtel.  Others  may  have 
followed  but  not  enough  came  to  form  a  congregation 
until  after  the  Revolutionary  war.  The  largest  num- 
ber entered  the  county  during  the  last  decade  of  the 
eighteenth  century  when  a  small  colony  located  on  the 
Conococheague,  east  of  Chambersburg.  One  of  the 
first  to  settle  here  was  Daniel  Lehman  who  became 
the  first  resident  minister.  The  first  meeting  house 
for  this  congregation  was  built  in  1804.  Soon  after 
this,  other  communities  were  established  near  Stras- 
burg  and  several  in  the  southern  part  of  the  county 
along  the  Conococheague. 

No  settlement  seems  to  have  been  made  in  Cum- 
berland county  until  about  1800  when  near  Shiremans- 
town  there  was  organized  what  is  now  known  as  the 
Slate  Hill  congregation,  the  first  building  for  which 
was  erected  before  1820.  Before  the  middle  of  the 
nineteenth  century  congregations  were  also  estab- 
lished in  the  western  half  of  the  county,  near  Shippens- 
burg,  Huntsdale,  and  Carlisle. 

In  the  meantime  a  small  colony  had  gone  up  the 
Susquehanna    and    the    Juniata    and   had    located    on 


196  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

the  Mahantago  near  what  is  now  Richfield,  in  Snyder 
county.  The  pioneer  Mennonite  as 
Up  the  Juniata  well  as  one  of  the  very  first  of  white 
men  in  the  region  was  John  Graybill, 
who  came  from  Lancaster  county  in  1772.  He  was 
followed  soon  after  by  Jacob  Moyer,  Michael  Lauver, 
John  Shellenberger,  Jacob  Sellers  and  others.  John 
Graybill,  son  of  the  pioneer,  became  the  first  minister 
of  the  congregation,  which  was  soon  organized.  From 
this  settlement  have  developed  several  small  congrega- 
tions in  the  extreme  northern  part  of  Juniata  county. 
Among  the  prominent  Mennonite  names  still  to  be 
found  here  are  Graybill,  Winey,  Leiter,  Bergey,  and 
others.  Soon  after  this  a  large  community  of  Amish 
located  a  little  farther  west  in  Mifflin  county,  but  of 
these  more  is  said  elsewhere. 

At  about  the  same  time  small  colonies  were  being 
formed  across  the  Alleghenies,  in  the  southwestern 
part  of  the  state,  along  the 
Near  the  Headwaters  valleys  of  the  Monongahela, 
of  the  Ohio  Youghiogheny,    and    the    Cone- 

maugh  rivers  within  the  region 
of  the  headwaters  of  the  Ohio.  The  earliest  and  most 
important  communities  were  located  in  Westmoreland, 
Fayette  and  Somerset  counties.  These  were  followed 
later  by  a  few  scattered  settlements  in  Cambria, 
Blair,  Center,  Clearfield  and  Butler  counties.  The 
first  Mennonite  to  cross  the  mountains  into  this 
locality  was  Christian  Blauch,  from  Lancaster  county, 
who  located  in  the  county  near  Berlin,  in  1767,  a  year 
before  this  region  was  opened  to  settlements. - 

In     1790    Jacob    Blauch,    brother    of    Christian, 


2.     Per.    D.    D.    Blough,   Johnstown,    Pa. 


EXPANSION   OF   PEQUEA   COLONY  197 

located  at  the  junction  of  the  Quemahoning  and  Stony 
creek,  in  Conemaugh  township,  Somerset  county. 
These  were  perhaps  of  the  Amish  branch  of  the 
church,  but  Mennonites  were  found  in  the  same 
locaHty  soon  after.  Jacob  Blauch,  son  of  the  above 
mentioned  Jacob,  became  the  first  Mennonite 
preacher  in  the  settlement  and  in  1814  he  was  ordained 
bishop.  From  these  early  beginnings  have  since  de- 
veloped several  congregations  in  this  part  of  the 
county.  By  about  178G  a  colony  had  also  been  estab- 
lished along  Casselman  creek,  near  Myersdale  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  county. 

At  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  two  settle- 
ments were  made  in  Fayette  and  Westmoreland  coun- 
ties. The  one  in  Fayette  was  located  in  the  south- 
western part  of  the  county  between  Masontown  and 
Uniontown ;  the  one  in  Westmoreland,  on  both  sides 
of  Jacobs  creek  which  forms  part  of  the  boundary 
between  these  two  counties.  The  settlers  on  the 
We&tmoreland  side  of  the  creek  came  principally 
from  Bucks  county  while  those  on  the  Fayette  side 
came  from  Lancaster. 

At  the  same  time  too,  a  colony  was  planted  near 
Martinsburg  in  Blair  county  where  Frederick  Rhoads 
became  the  first  bishop.  In  the  early  part  of  the 
nineteenth  century  small  settlements  were  also  made 
near  Rockton  in  Clearfield  county  and  near  Harmony 
in  Butler,  where  in  1816  Abraham  Ziegler,  David 
Stauffer,  John  Boyer  and  others  bought  the  land  upon 
which  George  Rapp,  the  founder  of  the  Rappites,  who 
later  moved  to  Indiana,  had  tried  to  establish  his 
communist  colony.  The  first  meeting  house  was 
erected  in  1816. 


198  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

From  these  original  settlements,  all  of  which 
were  established  during  the  latter  part  of  the  eight- 
eenth century  and  the  first  of  the  nineteenth,  other 
congregations  have  since  developed  within  the  coun- 
ties named.  During  the  first  three-fourths  of  the  past 
century,  the  growth  of  the  church  was  very  slow, 
some  congregations  becoming  almost  entirely  extinct. 
But  during  recent  years,  with  the  introduction  of  more 
aggressive  methods  of  work,  the  church  in  this  part 
of  the  state  has  shown  a  continued  increase  in  its 
membership. 

Maryland 

The  first  Mennonite  settlement  in  Maryland  was 
made  in  Washington  county.  This  county  forms  part 
of  the  same  Cumberland  Valley  through  which  the 
Germans  of  Pennsylvania  passed  on  their  way  to  Vir- 
ginia. The  settlement  here  is  older  than  those  farther 
up  the  valley  in  Pennsylvania  and  almost  as  old  as 
those  in  Virginia.  The  first  church  was  located  in 
what  is  known  as  the  Leitersburg  district  between 
Conococheague  and  Antietam  creeks.  Christian  Burk- 
hart  had  come  here  as  early  as  1755  and  John  Reiflf 
and  Jacob  Good  as  early  as  1765.  By  1776  the  com- 
munity had  grown  large  enough  to  demand  some 
recognition  upon  their  refusal  to  bear  arms  during  the 
Revolutionary  war  from  the  State  convention  which 
at  the  time  was  establishing  a  new  constitution,  as 
well  as  from  the  county  Committee  of  Observation. 
Both  the  constitutional  convention  and  the  local  com- 
mittee exempted  them  from  military  service,  but  re- 
quired them  to  furnish  transportation  for  the  county 
troops  and  contribute  to  the  support  of  the  families  of 


EXPANSION   OF   PEQUEA   COLONY  199 

the  men  in  the  army.  Before  1800,  among  others,  the 
following  had  found  their  way  into  this  region: 
Michael  Miller,  Andrew  Reiff,  John  Newcomer,  John 
Strite,  John  Barr,  Jacob  Miller  and  John  Shank.  The 
community  at  present  comprises  four  congregations. 
Several  congregations  have  also  been  established  in 
the  western  part  of  the  state. 

Virginia 

As  already  said,  the  fertile  valley  of  the  Shenan- 
doah   early    attracted    the    attention 
Germans  in  the        of  the  thrifty  Germans  of  Pennsyl- 
Shenandoah  yania.     As  early  as  about  1730  set- 

tlers from  Lancaster  and  York  coun- 
ties had  entered  this  region  by  way  of  the  Cumberland 
Valley. 

Among  the  earliest  of  these  German  pioneers, 
who  were  the  first  permanent  settlers  of  the  Valley,' 

were  several  Mennonites.  Dr.  John 
First  Mennonites  W.  Wayland  of  the  University  of 
in  the  Valley  Virginia  says  that  Abraham  Strick- 

ler  from  Lancaster  county,  Penn- 
sylvania, bought  a  tract  of  land  from  Jacob  Stover 
at  Massenutin  in  what  is  now  Page  county  as  early  as 
1729.^  Strickler  thus  became  one  of  the  very  earliest 
of  the  settlers  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  preceding  by 
three  years  the  well  known  Jost  Hite  who  is  usually 
spoken  of  as  the  pioneer  of  the  valley.  This  man  Dr. 
Wayland  believes,  was  a  Mennonite.  He  bases  this 
belief  upon  the  fact  that  the  later  Stricklers  of  this 


3.  For  much  of  the  information  regarding  these  earliest  settlers  I  am 
indebted  to  the  excellent  book  by  Dr.  John  W.  Wayland,  The 
German  Element  of  the  Shenandoah  Valley. 


200  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

reg-ion  were  of  that  faith.  It  may  be  added  as  a  further 
evidence  of  the  correctness  of  this  opinion  that  among 
a  list  of  the  names  of  twenty-seven  Mennonite  pas- 
sengers who  landed  at  Philadelphia  on  September 
30,  1754,  on  the  ship,  Brothers,  appears  the  name  of 
Abraham  Strickler,  a  relative  no  doubt  of  the  pioneer 
in  the  Shenandoah.  Jacob  Strickler,  said  to  be  a 
Mennonite  preacher  and  son  of  the  Abraham  who 
bought  land  in  Page  county  in  1729,  located  near 
Luray  in  1731.  In  a  petition  sent  to  Governor  Gooch 
in  1733  appear  the  names  of  Abraham  Strickler  and 
Michael  Kaufifman,  originally  from  Lancaster  county. 
Kaufifman,  Dr.  Wayland  thinks,  was  also  a  Mennonite. 
The  name  appears  several  times  among  the  lists  of  the 
Bernese  exiles  who  were  deported  from  Berne,  Switz- 
erland, some  years  before  this. 

After  this,  characteristic  Mennonite  names  are 
met  frequently  in  the  records  of  the  early  valley 
counties.  From  the  Orange  county  deed  books  we 
learn  that  in  1735  Jacob  Funk  and  John  Prupecker 
(Brubaker)  both  from  Lancaster  county,  bought  land 
along  the  North  fork  of  the  Shenandoah.  In  the  same 
documents  are  recorded  under  the  year  1736  the  names 
of  Martin  Coffman,  John  Prupecker,  and  Christian 
Niswanger.  In  1739  Peter  Ruffner,  the  ancestor  of  a 
later  well  known  Mennonite  family,  bought  a  tract  of 
land  along  the  Hawksbill  in  what  is  now  Page  county. 
He  found  living  here  at  the  time  families  by  the  names 
of  Strickler,  Heistand,  Beidler  and  Stovers — all  familiar 
Mennonite  names.  In  the  same  year  in  a  petition  to 
Governor  Gooch  from  inhabitants  of  the  lower  valley 
appear  the  names  of  Henry,  John  and  Jacob  Funk,  and 
Christian   Blank.     Dr.   Sachse  of   Philadelphia  thinks 


BANK   CHURCH.     VIRGINIA 


3    '  amtin 


WEAVER  CHURCH.     VIRGINIA 


EXPANSION   OF   PEQUEA   COLONY  201 

Jacob  Funk  was  a  member  of  the  society  of  the 
Ephrata  Brethren.  But  the  Funks  were  originally  of 
Mennonite  stock  and  it  is  Hkely  that  some  of  the 
Virginia  branch  were  still  of  that  faith.  Christian 
Blank  is  a  name  that  frequently  appears  in  the  records 
of  the  religious  controversy  between  Hans  Reist  and 
Jacob  Ammon  in  Switzerland  in  the  last  decade  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  and  among  the  Pennsylvania 
Amish. 

These  early  settlers  all  came  from  Lancaster 
county,  and  since  in  that  county  those  of  a  similar 
name  were  almost  invariably  Mennonites,  it  is  but 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  these  also  were  either  of 
that  faith  at  the  time  or  at  least  of  Mennonite  descent. 
This  view  is  supported  by  more  definite  evidence 
a  few  years  later.  The  Moravian  missionaries  from 
Pennsylvania  often  visited  the  various  German  settle- 
ments in  Virginia.  Joseph  Spangenberg  and  Matthew 
Reutz,  in  a  visit  made  through  the  valley  in  1748, 
wrote  of  themselves  in  the  third  person  as  follows : 

On  July  27,  they  journeyed  from  this  place  (Timberville) 
to  Messinuty,  where  Germans  of  all  kinds  of  denomination 
live— Mennonites,  Lutherans,  Separatists,  and  Inspira- 
tionists.* 

In  the  same  year  another  Ad:oravian,  speaking  of 
Ihe  Massenutin  settlement  in  Page  county  says: 

Many  Germans  live  there.     Most  of  them  are  Mennisten, 

who  are  in  a  bad  condition.     Nearly  all  religious  earnestness 

■and  zeal  is  extinguished  among  them.     Besides  them  a  few 

church  people  live  there,  partly  Lutherans,  partly  Reformed.' 

The  deed  books  of  Frederick  county  show  that 

•4.     Virginia   Magazine,    Vol.    XI.    No.    3.   p.   240.      Quoted   above   from   Dr. 

Wayland's  "German  Element,  etc." 
■S.     Virginia   Magazine,    Vol.    XI.    No.    3.   p.   229.      See   Wayland,    German 

Element,   p.    112. 


202  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

soon  after  this  familiar  names  are  also  found  in  what 
is  now  Shenandoah  county.  The  records  indicate  that 
Jacob  Good  bought  land  on  the  North  Fork  between 
what  are  now  Woodstock  and  Strasburg,  in  1752, 
and  that  John  Funk  came  in  1755.  Between  1755  and 
1765  there  appear  in  this  region  such  names  as  Grove, 
Brubaker,  Plank,  Mellinger,  and  Niswander,  all  from 
Lancaster  county,  and  undoubtedly  of  Mennonite  an- 
cestry. 

These  early  settlements  in  what  are  now  Page 
and  Shenandoah  counties  were  perhaps  never  very 
large.  Just  when  the  first  churches  were  organized 
among  these  early  pioneers  it  is  difficult  to  say.  But 
since  the  settlers  were  few  in  number  and  scattered 
•over  large  tracts  of  land,  it  is  not  likely  that  there  was 
much  church  organization  before  about  1750.  By  1758 
nineteen  families  were  compelled  to  leave  the  valley 
for  Pennsylvania  because  of  Indian  depredations.  But 
these  returned  after  the  French  and  Indian  war,  and 
with  them  a  number  of  others. 

Durinof  the  French  and  Indian  war  the  Indians 
made  several  raids  upon  the  inhabitants  of  the  valley. 
An  incident  which  occurred  during  the 
Indian  Raids  last  of  these  raids  and  which  was  re- 
lated by  an  old  lady  early  in  the  last 
century  to  Samuel  Kercheval,  the  historian  of  the 
valley,  illustrates  the  dangers  to  which  these  early 
pioneers  were  exposed  during  this  war.  The  story 
refers  to  the  murder  of  John  Rhodes,  a  Mennonite 
minister  and  his  family  in  Page  county  in  August, 
1766. 

A  party  of  eight  Indians  and  one  white  man,  approached 
the  house  and  shot  Mr.  Rhodes  dead,  while  he  was  standing 
in  his  doorway.     His  wife  and  one  of  the  sons  were  killed 


EXPANSION  OF  PEQUEA  COLONY     205 

•in  the  yard.  Another  son  was  at  the  distance  of  one  hundred 
yards  from  the  house  in  a  corn  field.  Hearing  the  reports  of 
the  guns,  he  climbed  a  peach  tree  to  see  what  it  meant, 
when  he  was  discovered  and  was  instantly  killed.  A  third 
poor  lad  tried  to  save  himself  by  running  to  cross  the  river,, 
but  was  overtaken  and  killed  in  the  river.  The  place  where 
he  attempted  to  cross  is  still  known  as  the  bloody  ford. 
The  eldest  daughter,  Elizabeth,  at  first  remained  within  the 
house,  but  later  caught  up  her  little  sixteen  or  eighteen- 
months  old  sister  and  ran  into  the  barn.  An  Indian  followed 
her  and  tried  to  force  open  the  door  that  she  had  secured 
behind  her.  Not  succeeding,  he  with  oaths  and  threats 
ordered  her  to  open  it,  and  as  she  of  course  refused,  he  ran 
back  to  the  house  to  get  some  fire.  While  he  was  gone, 
Elizabeth  crept  out  at  an  opening  at  the  opposite  side  of  the 
barn,  and  with  her  little  sister  in  her  arms  ran  through  a 
field  of  tall  hemp,  crossed  the  river,  reached  a  neighbor's 
house  and  thus  saved  herself  and  little  sister.  The  Indians, 
after  setting  fire  to  all  the  buildings,  started  of?  on  their  trip 
across  the  mountains,  taking  with  them  two  sons  and  two 
daughters  that  remained  alive,  as  captives.  The  youngest  of 
the  sons,  being  sickly  and  not  able  to  travel  fast  enough,  they 
killed  him.  The  two  daughters  then  refused  to  go  farther^ 
upon  which  both  were  killed.  After  three  years  of  captivity 
with  the  Indians,  the  remaining  son  made  his  escape  and 
came  back  to  his  friends.* 

This  was  the  last  raid  made  into  the  valley  by  the 
Indians.  They  soon  disappeared  across  the  mountains 
into  the  back  country  and  the  inhabitants  were  com- 
paratively free  from  danger  after  this. 

The   Mennonite   settlement  in  this  region,  how- 
ever did  not  prosper.     The  congrega- 
The  Fairfax  tions  which  were  established  have  long- 

Controversy         since  become   extinct.     This  was   due 
largely  to  the  fact  that  the  colony  was 
located    in    what    was    called    the    Northern    Neck, 


6.     Samuel  Kercheval:    A  History  of  the  Valley  of  Virginia,  p.  91. 


204  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

a  region  to  which  Lord  Fairfax  for  many  years  tried 
to  establish  a  private  claim.  During  the  controversy 
which  followed,  many  of  the  settlers  in  the  locality, 
including  the  Mennonites,  feeling  that  their  titles  to 
their  lands  were  uncertain,  moved  farther  up  the  val- 
ley into  what  are  now  Rockingham  and  Augusta 
counties.  Before  the  Revolutionary  war  families  by 
the  name  of  Brannerman,  Showalter  and  Shank  were 
found  on  the  north  side  of  the  North  Shenandoah,  near 
the  present  town  of  Broadway  in  what  was  then 
Augusta,  but  now  Rockingham  county.  By  about 
1800^  the  Mennonites  had  occupied  the  greater  portion 
of  the  Linville  Valley,  the  most  fertile 
The  Linville  portion  of  Rockingham  county.  The 
Valley  settlement  embraced  the  region  extend- 

ing from  Linville  creek  on  the  east  to 
the  North  mountain  on  the  west  and  the  Shenandoah 
on  the  north  to  Linville  and  Singers  Glen  on  the 
south,  a  district  about  ten  miles  long  by  eight  miles 
wide.  After  1780  when  Harrisonburg 
The  was  established  as  the  county  seat  of  the 

Harrisonburg  newly     organized     Rockingham     county 
Region  many  of  the  settlers  of  the  Linville  dis- 

trict moved  southwest  of  the  new  town 
where  a  large  Mennonite  community  has  since  de- 
veloped. This  and  the  settlement  above  mentioned 
are  still  the  stronghold  of  the  church  in  Virginia. 


By  about  1780  the  principal  families  among  the  Virginia  Mennonites 
were  Allebaugh,  Burkholder,  Beery,  Brunk,  Branner,  Brannerman, 
Driver,  Fultz,  Funk,  Frank,  Good,  Geil,  Hoover,  Kiser,  Kauffman, 
Minnich,  Roadcap,  Ruebush,  Rhodes,  Shoalter,  Swank,  Shank,  Tris- 
sel,  and  Wenger.  Before  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  there 
were  added  to  these,  families  by  the  name  of  Blosser,  Hartman, 
and  Weaver  from  Page  County,  and  Swope  and  Swartz  from 
Shenandoah,     and    Heatwole,     Hildebrand,     Harshbarger,     Graybil, 


EXPANSION   OF   PEQUEA   COLONY  205 

No  meeting  houses  appear  to  have  been  built  by 
the  Virginia  Mennonites  until  nearly  a  whole  century 

after  the  first  pioneers  entered  the 
Early  Meeting  valley.  During  these  years  religious 
Houses  meetings  were  held  in  private  houses.* 

The  first  church  house  to  be  erected 
was  the  Trissel  meeting  house  near  Broadway,  built 
in  1822.  Three  years  later  the  Pike  church,  four  miles 
west  of  Harrisonburg,  at  the  southern  end  of  the 
settlement  was  erected.  Between  these  two  were 
built  the  Brannemans,  west  of  Edom  in  1826  and  the 
Weaver  church  in  1827.  Many  other  houses  have 
smce  been  built  and  new  congregations  have  been 
establ-shed  in  various  parts  of  Rockingham,  Augusta 
Frederick  and  Shenandoah  counties.  The  Virginia 
Conference,  including  several  congregations  and  mis- 
sion stations  in  West  Virginia  now  comprises  thirty- 


Grove,    Fry,   Landis,   Layman,   and   Niswander   directly  from   Penn- 
sylvania     Later  .on  a  few  of  the  Fauber,  Grove.  Hildebrand,  Harsh- 
barger,  Kendig,  Roadcap  and  Stauffer  families  removed  to  points  in 
Augusta  County,  while  several  Kauffman,  Fry  and  Wenger  families 
located  at  a  point  west  of  the  Allegheny  mountains  near  what  is  now 
Lewisburg,    Greenbrier    County,    West    Va."-L.    J.    Heatwole,    in 
±lartzler  and   Kauffman's   Mennonite   Church  History,   p.   200. 
"With  the  increase  of  population,   there  came  a  time,   however,   when 
the  congregations   that  were  assembled  could   no  longer  be  accom- 
mouated  in  private  family  residences.     The  women  and  older  mem- 
bers occupied  all   the  room,   which  left  the  children,   the  boys  and 
the  girls  and   the  worldly  minded  people  out  of  doors  to  pass  the 
time  as  best  they  could— which  was  done  in  a  way  that  gave  to  the 
outside  gathering  at  least,  the  appearance  of  a  Sunday  social,  where 
sports   and   games   of  various   kinds   were   common,   as   a   means   of 
diversion  for  the  crowd.     Besides,  if  the  dinner  hour  was  prolonged 
which  was  generally  the  case,  it  was   no  uncommon  thing  for   the 
cellar,    the    spring   house,    and    even    the    orchard    to    be    drawn    on 
to  such  an  extent  that  there  were  not   sufficient  provisions  left  to 
provide  dinner  for  those  who  occupied  their  time  at  worship."—!,    J 
Heatwole,  in  Hartzler  and  Kauffman's  Mennonite  Church  History! 
p.  202. 


206  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

two  congregations  with  a  total  membership  of  about 
twelve  hundred. 

The  Virginia  settlement,  although  comparatively 
small  in  point  of  numbers  and  separated  some  distance 
from  other  communities,  has  nevertheless  exerted  no 
mean  influence  upon  the  church  at  large.  It  has  be- 
come the  mother  church  of  many  of  the  newer  western 
settlements,  including  the  congregations  in  Medina, 
Columbiana  and  Allen  counties,  Ohio,  and  Tazewell 
and  Livingston  counties,  Illinois. 

Being  the  only  Mennonite  settlement  within  the 
Confederacy  during  the  late  Civil  war  it  also  serves  as 
an  illustration  of  the  experiences  of  a  non-slaveholding 
and  non-resistant  people  when  their  principles  are  put 
to  a  test.  The  Mennonites  of  Virginia,  by  refusing  to 
hold  slaves  and  to  go  to  war  when  the  war  was  waged 
to  save  the  institution  of  slavery  and  when  every  able 
bodied  man  in  the  South  was  needed  for  the  struggle, 
naturally  became  objects  of  suspicion  to  the  state  and 
Confederate  authorities.  They  stood  by  their  convic- 
tions, however.  Their  experiences  during  the  war  are 
told  elsewhere  in  this  volume,  and  their  position  on 
the  question  of  holding  slaves  can  be  learned  from  the 
records  of  a  conference  of  the  churches  which  was 
held  April,  1864. 

The  subject  of  hiring  slaves  was  introduced  by 
Bishop  Geil. 

Decided  that  inasmuch  as  it  is  against  our  creed 
Attitude  and  discipline  to  own  or  traffic  in  slaves,  so  it  is 
Toward  also  forbidden  a  brother  to  hire  a  slave  unless  such 
Slavery       slave  be  entitled  to  receive  the  pay  for  such  labor 

by  the  consent  of  the  owner.  But  where  neighbors 
exchange  labor,  the  labor  of  slaves  may  be  received. 

In  literature  and  music  the  Virginians  have  con- 


EXPANSION  OF  PEQUEA  COLONY     207 

tributed  more  than  their  share  to  the  progress  of  the 
Mennonite  church.  We  have  already 
Literature  seen  that  Joseph  Funk's  printing  press 
and  Music  during  the  middle  of  the  last  century  was 
often  used  to  promote  the  literary  in- 
terests of  the  Mennonite  people.  The  first  English 
song  book,  Burkholder's  Confession  of  Faith,  and 
other  publications  had  their  birth  here.  To  the  cause 
of  music  also  Funk's  services  were  great.  The  print- 
ing of  song  books,  especially  the  Harmonica  Sacra, 
and  the  teaching  of  singing  schools  for  which  the 
region  around  Singers  Glen  was  well  known  did  much 
to  interest  not  only  the  local  Virginia  community  but 
the  entire  church  in  the  subject  of  sacred  music.  It 
was  from  this  region  that  the  most  talented  musicians 
of  the  church— the  Funks,  Goods,  Brunks  and  Sho- 
walters— have  come.  And  finally  Virginia  gave  the 
church  John  S.  CofTman,  the  pioneer  evangelist,  who 
did  more  than  any  other  man  of  his  day  to  inspire  the 
Mennonite  people  everywhere  with  higher  ideals  of 
culture  and  service. 

By  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  then,  the 
Mennonites  of  Southeastern  Pennsylvania  had  ap- 
peared among  the  pioneer  settlers  in  the  fertile  valleys 
of  Pennsylvania,  Maryland  and  Virginia.  No  new 
communities  have  been  established  in  these  states 
since  that  time.  But  with  the  opening  of  the  North- 
west Territory  these  settlements  became  in  turn  the 
mother  communities  of  many  congregations  organ- 
ized early  in  the  next  century  in  Ohio,  Indiana  and 
Illinois. 


CHAPTER  VIII 


THE    AMISm 

The  Amish  branch  of  the  church  derives  its  name 
from  one  Jacob  Amman,  a  Mennonite  preacher  in  the 

canton  of  Berne  in  Switzerland.  Not 
Jacob  Amman        much   is   known   of  his  life.     But  he 

was  evidently  a  man  of  conservative 
tendencies  and  decided  opinions,  for  in  1693  we  find 
him  visiting  the  Swiss  churches  and  urging  a  closer 
observance  of  earlier  and  more  conservative  customs 
and  practices.  He  advocated  especially  a  more  rigid 
application  of  the  practice  of  "avoidance"  or  "shun- 
ning" of  such  as  had  been  excommunicated  by  the 
church.  The  practice  of  the  Swiss  church  at  the  time 
was  to  "shun"  one  who  had  been  expelled  from  their 
body  only  at  the  communion  table,  but  now  if  Amman 
were  to  have  his  way,  the  practice  was  to  be  extended 


Most  of  our  information  of  the  origin  of  the  Amish  division  of  the 
church  is  obtained  from  a  series  of  letters  written  at  the  time, 
which  have  been  preserved  by  the  church  at  the  Emmenthal.  These 
letters  have  been  published  by  Joseph  Stuckey  in  a  pamphlet  called 
"Eine  Begebenheit,"  and  by  Johannes  Moser  in  a  pamphlet  entitled 
"Eine  Verantwortung  gegen  Danitl  Musser."  Ernst  Miiller  in  hi* 
history  of  the  Eernese  Mennonites  devotes  a  chapter  to  the  subject. 


THE    AMISH  209 

to  many  social  and  even  domestic  relations.  Not  even 
the  wife  and  children  of  such  an  ex-member,  if  they 
were  church  members,  were  to  be  permitted  to  eat 
with  him  at  the  same  table.  The  usual  conjugal  rela- 
tions also  between  husband  and  wife  were  to  be  sus- 
pended. 

Amman  soon  gained  a  small  following.  His  prin- 
cipal opponent  was  Hans  Reist,  and  the  two  factions 
were  locally  named  after  these  two  leaders.  There 
was  much  bitter  discussion  between  the  two  parties  all 
through  the  Oberland  and  Eramenthaler  regions,  and 
many  conferences  were  held  to  settle  the  controversy, 
but  none  were  successful.  Reist  and  his  party  failed 
to  appear  at  one  of  these  appointed  meetings,  where- 
upon Amman  immediately  pronounced  them  under 
the  ban.  Reist  soon  after  retaliated  with  the  same 
measure. 

Among  other  conservative  customs  which  Am- 
man introduced  among  his  followers  were  the  use  of 
hooks  and  eyes  instead  of  buttons  on  the  clothes  of 
men,  and  the  practice  of  feetwashing,  which  had  been 
neglected  among  the  Swiss  by  this  time. 

For  many  years  there  was  bitter  feeling  between 
the  two  factions  throughout  the  canton.  As  late  as 
1711,  at  the  time  of  the  exodus  from  Switzerland,  the 
bitterness  was  still  so  strong  that  the  two  parties  re- 
fused to  enter  the  same  ship  in  their  voyage  down  the 
Rhine.  Attempts  at  reconciliation  also  proved  fruit- 
less. In  1700  Amman  and  several  of  his  leading  fol- 
lowers wrote  a  letter  to  Reist,  asking  for  forgiveness. 
The  signatures  to  this  letter  are  those  of  Isak  Kaufif- 
man,     Niggli     Augsburger,     Ulrich     Amman,     Jacob 


2iO  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

Amman,  Christen  Blank,  Jacob  Kleiner,  Hans  Bach- 
man,  Felix  Jaggi,  and  Hans  Bieri — with  a  few  excep- 
tions all  familiar  names  among  the  Amish  of  America 
today.  Reist,  however,  refused  to  extend  the  olive 
branch  and  the  division  has  remained  to  the  present 
time. 

The  Amish  church  in  Europe-  has  never  been 
large.  It  began  in  the  canton  of  Berne  and  from  there 
emigrants  carried  the  division  to  Alsace, Lorraine,  and 
the  Palatinate  where  still  exist  a  number  of  congrega- 
tions. From  these  places  have  come  the  immigrants 
to  America. 

Just  when  they  first  came  to  America  it  is  not 
possible  to  say.  The  assertion  made  by  some  local 
historians  that  they  arrived  with  the 
First  Amish  Mennonites  at  the  Pequea  in  1710  is 
in  America  based  on  no  evidence.  But  since  there 
were  a  number  of  Amish  among  the  ex- 
iled Bernese  at  Amsterdam  in  1711,  it  is  barely  prob- 
able that  a  few  may  have  reached  this  country  soon 
after  that  date.  If  there  were  any,  however,  they  must 
have  been  few  in  number.  An  examination  of  the 
names  of  the  early  settlers  of  Lancaster  county  shows 
that  by  1725  Jacob  Hostater,  who  came  in  1715,^ 
Johannes  Lichty,  Adam  Brandt,  and  Simon  Konig 
were  residents  of  the  county.  These  are  all  character- 
istic Amish  names,  but  whether  their  bearers  were  of 
that  faith  is  not  certain.  Soon  after  1727,  however, 
Amish  names  appear  frequently  in  the  lists  of  passen- 
gers on  the  immigrant  ships.*     In  1727  there  arrived 


2.  The  name  "Amish"  is  no  longer  in  common  use  in  Europe. 

3.  Pa.  Arch.,  Second  Series,  Vol.   XIX.  p.   632. 

4.  See   Rupp,    I.    D.      Thirty    Thousand    Names. 


THE    AMISH  211 

among  others  in  Philadelphia  Jacob  Mast,  Peter  Zug, 
Ulrich  Pitscha,  John  Jacob  Stutzman  and  Johannes 
Kurtz.       The  fact  that  these  men  bear  characteristic 
Amish    names    and    that    they   arrived    on    the   same 
vessels   v^^ith   others   whom   we   know   to   have   been 
Mennonites,     makes     it     quite    probable     that    they 
were  Amish  men.    Between  1727  and  1740  appear  such 
names  as  Jacob  Mast,  Jacob  Beuler,  Johannes  Lapp, 
Jacob   Lantz,   Christian   Blank,   Oswald   Hochstetler, 
John  Jacob  Kauffman  and  a  number  of  others.     The 
period  of  heaviest  immigration  appears  to  have  been 
between  1742  and  1745.    One  vessel,  the  Francis  Eliza- 
beth, had  on  board  in  1742  Moritz  Zug  and  his  two 
brothers,     John     and    Christian,     the     ancestors     of 
hundreds  of  Zooks  in  this  country,  a  number  of  Jot- 
ters,   Johann    Heinrich    Schertz,    John    Gerber    and 
others.      In    1744   among   others   came    Peter  Jutzy. 
During  the  next  twenty  years  Amish  names  are  found 
frequently  on  the  immigration  lists.     In   1749  came 
Jacob  Hartzler  the  ancestor  of  a  long  line  of  Hartzlers 
in  this  country.    He  was  followed  the  next  year  by  the 
Blauch   brothers,   Christian   and   Hans,   and   Andreas 
Hoelly.     Nicholas  Stoltzfus  landed  at  Philadelphia  in 
1766  and   Peter  Bietch    (the   founder  of  the   Peachy 
family)  in  1767.     All  of  these  as  well  as  others  who 
■came  with  them  if  living  today  could  count  their  off- 
spring by  the  hundreds  both  within  and  without  the 
Amish  church.    By  the  time  of  the  Revolutionary  war 
Amish  as  well  as  Mennonite  immigration  had  prac- 
tically ceased  and  no  foreign  additions  were  made  to 
the  American  Amish  settlements  until  near  the  middle 
of  the  nineteenth  century. 

Just  where  the  first  immigrants  located  is  also 


212  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

uncertain,  but  one  of  the  very  earliest  congregations 
was  established  about  1740  in  the  north- 
Pioneer  western  corner  of  Berks  county,  along 
Settlements  the  North  Kill  creek,  near  what  is  now 
Hamburg.  Among  the  pioneers  in  this 
community  were  the  Zugs,  Jotters  and  others  whose 
descendants  can  be  found  today  in  nearly  every  Amish 
settlement  in  America.  By  1742  enough  had  located 
in  this  region  to  petition  the  Provincial  Assembly  for 
exemption  from  the  oath  in  becoming  naturalized,  a 
privilege  which  had  already  been  granted  the  Quakers 
and  Mennonites  of  Pennsylvania.  This  request  was 
granted.^ 

Another  early  congregation  was  established  in 
Lancaster  county,  near  the  head  waters  of  Conestoga 
river. 

And  within  these  two  pioneer  communities  most 
of  the  first  immigrants  located.  The  entire  immigra- 
tion could  not  have  been  large  as  can  be  seen  by  the 
comparatively  small  number  of  family  names  which 
are  to  be  found  in  the  Pennsylvania  church  today. 
The  following  list  is  practically  all-inclusive — Yoder, 
Zook,  Mast,  Plank,  Stoltzfus,  Stutzman,  Hooley, 
Beiler,  Koenig,  Beachy,  Miller,  Hostettler,  Kauffman, 
Jutzi,  Troyer  and  a  few  others. 

Of  the  early  history  of  these  people  we  know  very 
little  except  that  they  were  extremely  conservative  in 
their  religious  customs,  simple  in  their  tastes  and 
habits  and  generally  prosperous.  They 
Early  Life  never  erected  public  church  buildings, 
but  worshiped  in  private  houses.  In  their 
•everyday  life  they  had  to  meet  the  usual  hardships  of 


5.     Watson,  T.   F.     Annals,  II.   109. 


THE    AMISH  213 

the  frontiersman.  On  several  occasions  and  especially 
during  the  French  and  Indian  war  the  outlying  settle- 
ments fell  prey  to  the  Indian  tomahawk  and  scalping- 
knife. 

It  is  not  possible  to  say  which  of  the  two  above 
mentioned  pioneer  settlements  is  the  older,  but  it  is 
evident  that  soon  the  one  in  Berks  county  became 
the  more  prominent.  It  was  the  home  of  the  Zug 
brothers,  the  Yoders  and  other  pioneers  of  1742,  Not 
long  after,  other  communities  were  established  in 
Berks  county,  one  on  Maiden  creek,  one  near  Oley, 
and  another  in  the  southern  part  of  the  county  near 
the  Lancaster  line.  Most  of  the  early  congregations 
of  Berks  have  since  become  extinct,  the  settlers  hav- 
ing left  for  other  more  promising  localities.  Very 
early  a  number  of  the  Zooks  and  others  moved  to 
Chester  county  where  a  church  was  established.  Some 
of  the  Hartzlers  and  Beilers  began  a  settlement  in 
Lebanon  county  near  the  headwaters  of  the  Tulpe- 
hocken.^ 

From  all  these  communities  many  emigrated  in 
turn  to  Mifflin  county  before  the  close  of  the  eight- 
eenth century. 

The  Lancaster  county  settlement  near  the  head- 
waters of  the  Conestoga  and  the  Pequea  has  always 
loeen  prosperous  and  is  now  one  of  the  largest  com- 
munities in  America.  In  1900  there  were  eight  con- 
gregations with  an  estimated  membership  of  about 
eleven  hundred. 

From  these  various  pioneer  churches  all  the  later 
settlements    in    western    Pennsylvania — in    Somerset, 


See  article  by  J.  K.  Hartzler  in  Herald  of  Truth,  June  1,  1902.     "Fifty 
Years   in   the   Amish-Mennonite   Churches   of   Pennsylvania." 


214  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

Westmoreland,  Mifflin,  and  Juniata  counties — were 
made,  and  indirectly  many  more  in  Ohio,  Indiana, 
Illinois,  Iowa  and  other  western  states. 

The   Amish   do   not   seem   to   have   followed   the 
Mennonites  and  other  Germans  southward  into  the 
Cumberland     and      Shenandoah     Valleys. 
Somerset      The  first  movement  away  from  Southeast- 
County         ern    Pennsylvania    was    across    the    Alle- 
ghenies,  into  what  is  now  Somerset  county. 
Here   as   we   have   already   seen   came   the    Blauchs, 
Jacob  and  Christian,  who  we  have  reason  to  believe 
were  Amishmen,  into  Conemaugh  township,  the  latter 
•as  early  as  1767.    In  1776  two  men  by  the  names  of 
Yoder  and  Hooley  settled  in  what  is  called  the  Glades 
■region  in  the  same  county.^     About  the  same  time 
another  community  was  established  in  the  southern 
part  of  the  county,  along  Casselman  creek.     One  of 
the  earliest  settlers  here  was  Christian  Gnaegi  who 
in  1774  took  up  five  hundred  acres  of  land  two  miles 
east  of  Myersdale.^    Most  of  these  settlers  came  from 
Berks,   Chester  and   Lebanon  counties.     The   Glades 
church  has  since  become  extinct.     The  membership 
in  this  entire  region  in  1900  was  three  hundred  and 
twenty-nine.     The  church  in  Somerset  county  has  in 
turn  become  the  founder  of  congregations  in  Elkhart 
and  Lagrange  counties,  Indiana ;    Douglas  and  Moul- 
trie counties,  Illinois;   and  has  furnished  new  settlers 
to  many  other  Amish  communities. 

Before    the    close    of    the    century    another    large 


7.     D.  D.  Miller  in  Heroic!  der  Wahrheit,   Feb.   1,   1893 
«.     Gnagey,    Elias.      Gnaegi    Family   History. 


THE    AMISH  21S 

colony  was  begun  in  the  beautiful  and  fertile  valley 
of   the   Kishocoquillas,   a   tributary   of 
The  the   Juniata,   in   what   is    now    Mifflin 

Kishocoquillas     county.     This  valley  is  about  three  or 
Valley  four  miles  wide  and  about  fifteen  miles 

long,  lying  between  Jacks  mountain 
on  the  southeast  and  another  low  range  on  the  oppo- 
site side.  This  picturesque  retreat  was  discovered 
by  the  Amish  of  Berks  and  Lancaster  about  1790,  and 
they  soon  began  to  buy  large  tracts  of  land  from  the 
Scotch-Irish  who  had  been  in  the  region  since  about 
1760.  The  deed  books  at  Lewistown,  the  county  seat, 
show  that  the  earliest  purchasers  were  the  following 
—John  Zook  (1792),^  John  Yotter,  Christian  Zook, 
John  Hooley,  Jacob  Yotter  and  Christian  Yotter,  all 
in  1793;  and  John  Hartzler,  1794.  These  were  fol- 
lowed during  the  next  twenty  years  by  the  Beilers, 
Beacheys,  Kaufifmans,  Blanks  and  others.  The  colony 
grew  by  natural  increase  and  by  new  settlers  until  the 
middle  of  the  next  century.  The  Amish  now  occupy 
nearly  the  entire  valley. 

Being  hemmed  in,  however,  on  both  sides  by  the 
mountains,  it  was  impossible  for  the  community  to 
accommodate  the  coming  generations  with  new  homes 
after  all  the  available  land  in  the  valley  had  been 
bought  from  the  Scotch-Irish.  Hence,  as  the  settle- 
ment grew,  the  younger  members  were  forced  to  seek 
homes  elsewhere.  From  about  1840  to  1870,  Mifflin 
county  furnished  many  members  for  new  congrega- 
tions in  Champaign,  Logan  and  Wayne  counties,  Ohio; 
in  McLean  county,  Illinois ;  and  in  other  places  in 
Indiana  and  other  western  states.     The  entire  mem- 


9.     Runk,  J.  M.     Biographical  Encyclopedia  of  Juniata  Valley,  p.  745. 


216  MENXONITES    OF    AMERICA 

bership,  including  the  various  branches  is  still  about 
one  thousand. 

During  the  last  few  years  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury and  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth,  a  small 
congregation  was  located  in  Buffalo  Valley,  Union 
county,  and  two  in  Tuscarora  valley  and  Lost  Creek 
valley,  in  Juniata  county.  These  latter,  however,  have 
since  disappeared.  About  the  middle  of  the  last  cen- 
tury a  settlement  was  also  made  in  Lawrence  county, 
which  still  has  a  membership  of  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty. 

The  Amish  of  IMifflin  county  are  still  very  con- 
servative and  are  still  principally  of  the  several  va- 
rieties of  the  Old  Order  type.  Consequently  church 
houses  are  scarce.  The  first  one  was  erected  in  1868 
by  the  progressive  wing  of  the  church. 

Few  new  communities  were  established  in  Penn- 
sylvania after  1800.  By  that  time  more  inviting 
prospects  for  settlement  were  afforded  by  the  cheap 
lands  of  the  newly  organized  North-west  territory  and 
soon  in  the  state  of  Ohio. 

Ohio 

The   first  Amish  to  cross  over  into  Ohio  came 
from  Somerset  county,  just  a  few  years  after  Ohio 
became    a   state. ^°      In    the   fall    of 
Tuscarawas  and  1808  preacher  Jacob  Miller  and  his 

Holmes  Counties       two    sons,    Henry    and    Jacob,    to- 
gether with  their  wives,  located  on 
farms  they  had  purchased  on  Sugar  creek  in  the  west- 


10.  See  article  by  S.  H.  Miller  in  Mennonite  Year-Book  and  Directory  for 
1908.  Also  History  of  Tuscarawas  County,  published  by  Warner, 
Beers  Company.        1884. 


> 

O 

u 
> 


o 
> 


o 


O 
o 


THE    AMISH  217 

ern  part  of  what  is  now  Tuscarawas  county.     Two 
years  later  Jonas  Miller,  Joseph  Mast,  John  Troyer, 
Christian  Yoder  and  perhaps  others,  also  from  Somer- 
set  county,   settled   in   this   same   region,   but   along 
Walnut  creek  in  the  eastern  part  of  Holmes  county. 
Others  were  ready  to  come  from  Pennsylvania,  but 
the  Indian   incursions  of  the  war  of  1812,  not  only 
stopped  emigration  from  Pennsylvania  for  a  few  years 
but  drove  back  to  their  original  homes  some  who  had 
entered  Ohio  before  1812.     After  the  war,  however, 
many  new  settlers  were  added  to  the  community  bear- 
ing such  names  as  Miller,  Yoder,  Gerber,  Hershberger 
and  others.     Judging  from  the  prevalence  at  present 
of  the   Millers,   however,   most  of  the   early  settlers 
must  have  belonged  to  that  family.    The  first  religious 
services  were  held  near  Shanesville  in   1810  by  the 
above  mentioned  Jacob  Miller,   familiarly  known  as 
"Yockle"  Miller.     The  settlement  soon  outgrew  the 
two  small  valleys  where  the  first  pioneers  located  and 
spread  out  over  the  hills  of  the  eastern  part  of  Holmes 
and  the  western  part  of  Tuscarawas  county  until  now 
it  is  the  largest  Amish  community  in  America.     The 
entire  community,  including  the  three  congregations 
which  worship  in  meeting  houses  and  the  seven  dis- 
tricts of  the  Old  Order  contains  about  two  thousand 
church  members.  These  congregations  have  furnished 
a  number  of  settlers  for  the  churches  which  later  were 
established    in    Logan   and    Geauga    counties,    Ohio; 
Howard    and    Elkhart    counties,    Indiana;     Johnson 
county,  Iowa ;   Seward  county,  Nebraska,  and  in  other 
newer  communities. 

The  second  Amish  colony  in  the  state  was  located 
in   Wayne   county.     The   pioneer   settler   was   Jacob 


218  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

Yoder  who  came  from  Mifflin  county,  Pennsylvania  in 
1817.  He  was  followed  during  the  years  im- 
Wayne  mediately  succeeding  by  Jonathan  S.  Yoder, 
County  David  Stutzman,  John  Zook  and  Christian 
Lantz  from  the  same  county,  and  Peter, 
Jacob  and  Abraham  Schrock  from  Somerset.  Chris- 
tian Brandt  from  Switzerland  was  the  first  minister 
and  David  Zook  from  Pennsylvania,  the  first  bishop. 
Later  other  settlers  came  from  Europe  as  well  as  from 
the  older  congregations  in  Pennsylvania.  The  settle- 
ment has  since  grown  to  a  fine  large  congregation  of 
about  five  hundred  members.  This  congregation  is 
perhaps  the  most  progressive  and  cultured  Amish 
community  in  the  country.  It  has  produced  and  kept 
within  the  church  more  intelligent  and  educated  young 
men  and  women  than  any  other  single  congregation 
in  the  land.  Here  was  also  the  home  of  the  late  John 
K.  Yoder,  for  many  years  one  of  the  best  known  and 
most  influential  bishops  in  the  church. 

The  next  settlement  was  made  in  Butler  county 
along  the  Miami  river.  This  congregation  is  of  special 
interest  because  it  introduced  new 
Butler  County,  blood  into  the  Amish  church  of 
a  New  Element  America.  The  communities  thus  far 
described  in  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio 
were  all  outgrowths  of  the  parent  settlements  in  Berks 
and  Lancaster  counties.  But  now,  beginning  about  1820, 
a  new  stream  of  European  immigrants  of  both  Amish 
and  Mennonite  persuasion  again  sets  in.  The  causes 
of  this  general  movement  to  America  has  been  dis- 
cussed elsewhere  and  needs  no  repetition  here.  The 
immigrants  usually  first  reached  the  older  settlements 
in  the  East  and  from  thence  started  out  in  quest  of 


THE    AMISH  219 

new  homes  in  the  states  farther  west.  The  Amish 
who  located  in  Butler  county  first  came  to  Lancaster, 
and  from  thence  struck  the  Ohio  river  at  Pittsburg. 
From  here  they  floated  down  the  Ohio  to  the  Miami, 
then  up  that  stream  as  far  as  what  is  now  Butler 
county  where  they  established  their  first  settlement. 

The  pioneer  in  this  immigration  seems  to  have 
been  Christian  Augsburger,  who  with  a  family  of 
twelve  and  five  other  families,  arrived  here  in  1819.^^ 
Other  families  bearing  the  names  of  Imhoff,  NafTziger, 
Kennel,  etc.,  soon  followed,  and  by  1830  a  flourishing 
congregation  had  been  established.  These  early  set- 
tlers came  mainly  from  near  Strasburg.  In  1832 
several  new  families  bearing  the  names  lutzi,  Hooley, 
Kinsinger,  etc.,  came  from  Hesse-Darmstadt  and 
located  near  the  original  settlement.  These  Hessians, 
coming  from  a  different  German  state,  did  not  always 
agree  with  their  Strasburg  brethren  in  their  religious 
practices.  They  held  more  liberal  views  on  many 
questions,  among  others  on  the  use  of  musical  instru- 
ments, and  in  the  matter  of  the  conventional  dress. 
These  differences  culminated  in  1836  in  a  division. 
The  Hessians  were  served  in  their  religious  worship 
by  a  minister  who  had  come  to  them  from  Europe  by 
way  of  Canada,  Peter  Naiifziger,  familiarly  known  in 
later  years  as  "The  Apostle";  and  the  conservatives 
by  Jacob  Augsburger.  This  breach  lasted  until  1897 
since  which  time  the  two  congregations  have  again 
acted  in  harmony  in  their  religious  work. 

Butler  county  afforded  a  stopping  place  for  a  few 


11.  See  History  of  Butler  County,  published  by  Western  Biographical 
Publishing  Company,  Cincinnati,  1882;  also  Centennial  History  of 
Butler  County  by  B.  S.   Bartlow.     1905. 


220  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

years  for  many  European  Amish  who  during  the  next 
twenty  years  drifted  down  the  Ohio,  enroute  for  the 
Illinois  settlements  which  had  been  begun  in  the  mean 
time. 

A  number  of  Germans  about  1820  also  located  in 
§tark  county. 

Still  another  colony,  composed  mostly  of  immi- 
grants   from    near    Miihlhausen    was    established    in 
Fulton  county.     From  1834  to  1850  many 
Fulton  families   settled   in   what   is   now   German- 

County  town  township.  Among  the  earliest  set- 
tler were  Nicholas  King,  Jacob  Bender, 
Christian  Lauber,  Christian  Rupp,  Henry  and  Jacob 
Roth  and  John  Gunday,  who  came  in  1834.  These 
were  followed  in  1835  by  Peter  Rupp,  Christian  Beck 
and  others,  and  in  the  following  years  by  those  bear- 
ing the  names  Burkholder,  Rivenaugh,  Stutzman, 
Gascho,  Schmucker,  Klopfenstein,  Stuckey,  and 
Wise.^^  This  congregation  has  since  grown  to  large 
dimensions,  and  although  it  has  within  recent  years 
furnished  a  number  of  recruits  for  the  Egli  branch  of 
the  church,  it  still  contains  a  membership  of  about 
six  hundred. 

Two  more  colonies  of  Pennsylvanians  were  planted 
in  the  state  before  the  middle  of  the  century,  one  in 
1834  in  Fairfield  county,^^  the  other  in  1840  in  Logan 
county.  The  Fairfield  county  congregation  was  lo- 
cated principally  in  Pleasant  and  Berne  townships, 
near  the  earlier  Mennonite  settlements.  It  has  since 
disappeared,   however,   most   of   the   members   having 


12.  See   History   of   Henry   and    Fulton   Covinties,   pub.   by   D.    Mason   and 

Co.,   Syracuse,   N.   Y.      1888. 

13.  See  article  by  Joseph  Kurtz,  in  History  of  Fairfield   County,  by  Har- 

vey Scott.     1877. 


THE    AMISH  221 

gone   to   Lagrang-e  county,  Indiana,  and   Champaign 
county,  Ohio. 

The  church  in  Logan  county  was  founded  by  the 
Yoders,  Troyers,  Kings,  Bylers,  and  Kauffmans,  who 
had  come  from  Mifflin  county  between  1840 
Logan  and  and  1850.  The  first  settlers  were  Peter 
Champaign  Yoder  in  1840,  followed  by  Daniel  Yoder 
Counties  the  next  year,  both  of  whom  had  come  from 
Mifflin,  by  way  of  Wayne  county,  Ohio. 
Several  of  the  later  families  came  from  Holmes 
county.  The  church  was  organized  in  Harrison  town- 
ship in  1845  with  Joseph  Kauffman  and  Jonas  Troyer 
as  first  ministers.  By  1850  the  settlement  had  ex- 
panded over  into  Champaign  county,  and  in  that  year 
the  first  services  were  held  there.  In  1863  the  first 
Sunday  school  was  organized  in  Logan  county.  This 
was  the  first  Sunday  school  ever  held  by  the  Amish  in 
America  as  well  as  by  the  Old  Mennonites." 

Indiana 

The  first  settlement  in  Indiana^^  was  the  result 
of  an  extended  tour  of  inspection  made  by  a  group  of 
land  seekers  from  Somerset  county,  Pennsylvania,  in 
1840.  By  that  time  this  community  again  found  it 
necessary  to  seek  nevv^  homes  for  its  surplus  member- 
ship. Accordingly  a  group  of  four  men,  Daniel  S. 
Miller,   Joseph    Miller,    Nathan    Smeiley   and   Joseph 

14.  See   article   by    Bishop    David    Plank,   in    Historical    Review    of    Logaa 

County,  by  Robert   P.    Kennedy.      1903. 

15.  For     printed     information     regarding     the     church     in     Indiana     see. 

Family  Almanac,  1875  ;  The  Amish  Mennonites,  by  S.  D.  Guengerich,' 
in  Gospel  Witness,  April  5,  1905;  Fine  Geschichte  der  ersten  An- 
siedlung  der  Amischen  Mennoniten  im  Staat  Indiana,  by  John  F. 
Borntreger;  and  History  of  Lagrange  and  Noble  Counties,  published 
by  Batley  and  Co.,  Chicago.     1882. 


222  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

Speicher  undertook  to  look  up  a  suitable  location  for 
a  colony  in  what  was  then  the  far  "West."  They  took 
a  boat  at  Pittsburg  down  the  Ohio  to  the  mouth  of 
that  river,  and  then  ascended  the  Mississippi  to  Bur- 
lington, Iowa.  From  here  they  traversed  by  foot  the 
present  counties  of  Henry,  Johnson,  and  Washington 
as  far  as  Iowa  City.  They  were  well  pleased  with  the 
fertile,  rolling  prairies  of  this  region  and  started  back 
to  report  to  their  brethren  at  home.  The  return  was 
made  across  northern  Illinois  to  the  little  village  of 
Chicago,  thence  across  Lake  Michigan  to  the  mouth 
of  the  St.  Joseph,  and  thence  up  that  river  by  boat. 
Leaving  this  river  after  they  had  ascended  it  some 
distance,  they  again  started  on  foot  across  northern 
Indiana.  They  soon  reached  the  fertile  region  east  of 
Goshen  in  Elkhart  county.  They  were  so  well  pleased 
with  this  locality  that  they  decided  to  make  this, 
rather  than  Iowa,  their  future  home,  and  returned  to 
Pennsylvania  to  report  their  decision. 

Accordingly  the  next  summer  four  families,  con- 
sisting of  twenty-four  souls,  arrived  from  Somerset, 
and  located  first  on  the  Elkhart 
Pioneer  Congregation  prairie,  but  later  on  the  wooded 
in  Elkhart  County  lands  east  of  Goshen.  The 
heads  of  these  families  were 
Daniel  S.  Miller,  preacher  Joseph  Miller,  Joseph  Born- 
treger,  and  Christian  Borntreger.  Two  of  these  soon 
moved  ten  miles  east  into  Lagrange  county.  During 
the  years  immediately  following  many  other  settlers 
came  to  both  of  these  pioneer  communities  from 
Pennsylvania  and  Holmes  county,  Ohio.  The  first 
church  services  were  held  in  the  spring  of  1842  in  the 
house  of  preacher  Joseph  Miller  in  Clinton  township. 


THE    AMISH  223 

The  church  which  was  organized  contained  fourteen 
members.  From  these  small  beginnings  there  have 
since  developed  in  Elkhart,  Lagrange  and  Noble  coun- 
ties eleven  congregations,  six  of  which  are  of  the  Old 
Order,  with  an  aggregate  membership  of  about  twelve 
hundred. 

Before  the  Civil  war,  small  colonies  had  also  been 
established  in  Marshall  and  Adams  counties,  and  since 
that  time  a  number  of  congregations,  principally  of  the 
Old  Order,  have  located  in  Newton,  Howard,  Miami, 
Allen,  Jasper,  Davies  and  Brown  counties.  These 
settlements  are  composed  largely  of  Pennsylvanians, 
and  the  combined  membership  at  present  counts  up 
about  six  hundred. 

Several  small  congregations  have  also  recently 
been  organized  in  Michigan,  principally  by  settlers 
from  Indiana  and  neighboring  states. 

Iowa 

The  first  settlement  in  lowa^*  was  made  near 
West  Point,  in   Lee  county,  before   1840,  along  the 

banks  of  the  Mississippi  in  the  extreme 
West  Pont  southeastern  part  of  the  state.  The  first 
Colony  settlers  were  European  immigrants  who 

had  stopped  for  several  years  in  Butler 
county,  Ohio,  long  enough  to  earn  a  little  money  to 
purchase  homes  for  themselves  on  the  cheap  lands  of 
Illinois  and  Iowa.  Among  these  men  were  John 
Rogie,  C.  Werey,  C.  Kinsinger,  and  Andrew  Hauder. 


16.  See  Amish  Mennonites  of  Iowa,  by  B.  L.  Wick,  printed  in  Publica-. 
tions  of  Iowa  State  Historical  Society,  1894,  and  article  by  S.  D. 
Guengerich  in  Gospel  Witness,  April  5,  1905.  Some  of  this  informa- 
tion has  also  been  received  from  John  Goldsmith  of  Wayland,  lowa,^ 
«on  of  the  pioneer  bishop  of  the  state. 


224  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

A  little  later  others  came  from  Wayne  county,  OhiO" 
and  Canada.  In  1846  Joseph  Goldschmidt,  the  first 
bishop  in  the  state  came  from  Butler  county.  This 
colony  had  located  on  a  tract  of  land  which  had  been 
set  apart  as  an  Indian  reservation,  and  because  of 
some  difficulty  in  getting  clear  titles  to  their  lands 
most  of  the  early  settlers  later  left  for  other  localities, 
some  for  Illinois ;  several  others  for  Henry  and  Davis- 
counties,  Iowa,  Before  the  Civil  war  the  congrega- 
tion had  disappeared. 

In    1845    another   small    prospecting   party   com- 
posed of  Daniel  P.  Guengerich  from  Garfield  county- 
Ohio,    and    J.    J.    Swartzendruber    from 
Later  Alleghany    county,    Maryland,    came    ta 

Settlements  Iowa  in  search  of  cheap  lands.  After 
remaining  for  awhile  with  the  colony  in 
Lee  county  they  traveled  through  the  present  coun- 
ties of  Lee,  Henry,  Washington  and  Johnson,  and 
decided  upon  the  last  for  their  prospective  homes.. 
They  returned  east  and  the  next  spring  these  two  men, 
together  with  one  William  Wertz  and  their  families- 
began  the  first  Amish  settlement  in  Johnson  county. 
These  were  followed  in  succeeding  years  by  many 
others  from  Germany  and  from  Pennsylvania  and 
Ohio,  and  in  recent  years  from  Illinois,  who  settled  in 
all  of  the  above  mentioned  counties  and  in  Iowa 
county.  In  the  early  fifties  a  small  community  was 
established  in  Davis  county  by  one  or  two  Lee  county 
settlers  and  others  from  Ohio. 

The  largest  congregation  in  the  state  at  present 
is  to  be  found  in  Henry  county.  The  earliest  settlers 
here  ni  addition  to  those  who  had  moved  from  Lee 
and  Davis  counties  came  principally  from  Alsace  by 


THE    AMISH  225 

way  of  Butler  county,  Ohio.  Among  them  were 
Daniel  Conrad,  John  and  Peter  Roth,  Abraham  and 
John  Hostetter,  J.  Lichty,  J.  Graber  and  others. 

The  combined  membership  of  these  settlements 
including  several  large  congregations  of  the  Old  Order 
is  about  eleven  hundred.  Within  recent  years  small 
communities  have  also  been  established  in  Pocahontas, 
Wright  and  Calhoun  counties. 

Some  years   ago   a   division    occurred   in   Henry 

county  which  under  the  late  Benjamin 

The  "Eicher"       Eicher  developed  into  a  large  congre- 

Church  gation.     This   congregation,   with   two 

places  of  worship,  is  now  a  member 

of  the  General  Conference  Mennonites. 

Immigration  from  1820  to  1850 

As  we  have  already  seen,  there  was  very  little 
immigration  of  either  Mennonites  or  Amish,  from 
about  1760  to  1820.  But  from  the  latter  date  to  about 
1850  large  numbers  again  left  their  .European  homes 
for  this  country,  owing  to  the  hardships  resulting 
from  the  Napoleonic  wars,  together  with  the  great 
prosperity  which  the  people  of  America  enjoyed  dur- 
ing this  period.  The  Amish  came  largely  from  Alsace, 
Lorraine,  Bavaria,  and  Hesse-Darmstadt,  and  settled 
as  we  have  seen  in  Butler  and  Fulton  counties,  Ohio; 
Lewis  county,  New  York;  Wilmot  township,  Ontario; 
Lee  and  Henry  counties,  Iowa;  and  in  Woodford, 
Tazewell  and  Bureau  counties,  Illinois.  A  study 
of  the  names  of  these  immigrants  shows  that 
they  were  for  the  most  part  of  different  stock 
from  the  Pennsylvania  Germans  who  had  come 
to    America    in    the    early    eighteenth    century.     The 


226  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

most  common  of  these  names  were  Naffziger, 
Oesch,  Virkler,  Gascho,  Schertz,  Fahrney,  Roggy, 
Rupp,  Stucki,  Gerber,  Guengerich,  Belsley,  Auer, 
Zehr,  Moser,  Burkey,  Roth,  Litwiller,  Schrock,  Stein- 
man,  Albrecht,  Bachman,  Kennel,  etc.  They  were 
usually  poor  men  and  women  who  upon  coming  to 
America  found  their  way  to  the  older  settlements,, 
generally  to  Lancaster  county,  but  later  to  Butler 
county,  where  they  remained  long  enough  to  earn  a 
little  money  which  they  could  invest  in  cheap  lands 
in  the  newer  countries. 

Canada 

The  region  which  next  to  Butler  county  evidently 
offered  the  greatest  attraction  to  these  homeseekers 
was    Ontario,   for   there    the    second    settlement   was 

made.  The  history  of  the  Can- 
Pioneer  adian  Amish  begins  with  the 
Christian  Naffziger        wanderings      of      one      Christian 

Naffziger  from  Bavaria,  who 
came  to  America  to  look  up  a  suitable  location 
for  a  proposed  colony  from  his  native  congregation. 
Naffziger  landed  at  New  Orleans  in  the  spring  of  1822, 
from  whence  he  finally  found  his  way  by  foot,  to 
Lancaster  county.  Here  he  was  directed  to  Waterloo 
township,  Ontario,  where  a  thriving  Mennonite  com- 
munity had  been  established  some  twenty  years  be- 
fore, and  near  which  there  was  still  plenty  of  cheap 
land  to  be  had.  He  arrived  at  Waterloo  in  the  fall  of 
the  same  year,  and  being  well  pleased  with  the  country 
he  secured  at  a  nominal  cost  from  the  governor  of 
Upper  Canada  a  large  tract  of  land,  just  west  of 
Waterloo    in    Wilmot    township,    for    his    proposed 


THE    AMISH  227 

colony.  Returning  to  Bavaria  by  way  of  London 
where  he  had  secured  a  confirmation  of  his  grant  from 
the  king,  he  prepared  to  lead  a  colony  to  the  new 
home.  He  was  detained,  however,  and  was  not  able 
to  come  back  to  America  until  1826.  But  in  that  year 
he  and  his  family,  together  with  a  number  of  friends, 
including  two  ministers,  Peter  Naffziger,  a  bishop,  and 
Christian  Steinman,  arrived  safely  in  Wilmot  town- 
ship. 

In    the    meantime,  however,  Naffziger    and    his 
small  colony  had  been  preceded  by  several  German 
families  who  had  reached  this  region  by 
Wilmot  way  of  Lancaster  county.     Among  these 

Township  were  John  Brenneman,  Joseph  Gold- 
schmidt,  John  Guengrich,  Jacob  Kropf, 
Jacob  Burky,  Isaac  Moser,  and  Joseph  Becher.  The 
first  church  was  organized  in  1824  with  John  Brenne- 
man and  Joseph  Goldschmidt  as  the  first  ministers. 
This  colony  has  since  developed  into  four  large  con- 
gregations near  the  original  settlement,  and  one  near 
Lake  Huron,  founded  in  1849.^^ 

New   York 

A  little  later,  between  1830  and  1835,  several 
families  bearing  the  names  Virkler,  Fahrney,  Naff- 
ziger, Zehr,  Moser,  and  Ringenberg,  located  near  the 
headwaters  of  the  Mohawk,  along  Beaver  creek  in 
Lewis  county.  New  York.  This  congregation,  which 
now  numbers  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  members. 


17.     C.    M.    Bender.      Die    Amischen-Mennoniten    in    Canada,    in    Familiea 
Kalender.      1903. 


22g  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

as  well  as  those  in  Canada,  is  still  very  conservative 
in  all  matters  of  religious  practice.^* 

Illinois 

By  far  the  largest  and  most  important  settlement 
made  by  the  immigrants  of  this  period  was  the  one 

made  in  1831  along  the  banks  of  the 
Wesley  City  Illinois  in  what  are  now  Woodford, 
Colony  Tazewell  and   Bureau  counties.     In  the 

spring  of  1831  a  small  company  of  young 
men  and  women,  most  of  them  unmarried,  arrived  on 
the  banks  of  the  Illinois  near  what  is  now  Wesley 
City,  Tazewell  county,  and  began  here  the  first  Amish 
or  Mennonite  community  west  of  Ohio.  These  pio- 
neers had  come  from  Alsace  and  Lorraine  the  year 
before  and  had  reached  the  Illinois  country  by  way  of 
Pennsylvania,  then  down  the  Ohio,  up  the  Mississippi 
and  Illinois  as  far  as  Fort  Clark,  now  Peoria,  a  few 
miles  to  the  south  of  which  they  began  the  first  settle- 
ment. This  company  included  David  Schertz,  a  miller, 
and  his  father;  Christian  Roggy  with  three  daughters; 
Joseph  Rusche  and  two  sisters ;  Jacob  Auer  and  Peter 
Beck.i^ 

At  about  the  same  time  other  immigrants  from 
Alsace  began  to  locate  about  ten  miles  farther  up  the 
river  along  Partridge  creek,  between  Spring  Bay  and 
Metamora.    During  the  year,  "Red"  Joe  Belsley  pur- 


18.  This    information    was    furnished    by    Christian    Roggi    of    Croghan, 

N.  Y. 

19,  See  in  appendix  autobiographical  sketch  of  Christian  Ropp,  manuscript 

in  possession  of  John  Ropp,  Bloomington,  111.  The  information 
regarding  the  Illinois  settlements  has  been  secured  almost  entirely 
from  the  oldest  settlers. 


THE    AMISH  229 

chased  a  farm  in  the  bottom  lands  of  the  Illinois,  near 
Spring  Bay,  and  John  Engle  who 
Woodford  and  had  spent  several  years  in  Penn- 

Tazewell  Counties  sylvania  on  his  way  westward, 
located  near  the  eastern  edge  of 
the  Illinois  river's  wooded  belt,  and  one  mile  west  of 
Metamora.  In  1833  several  additions  were  made  to 
the  Partridge  settlement.  Christian  Engle,  father  of 
John,  Peter  Engle  and  several  Engle  sisters,  John  and 
Joe  Virkler  settled  near  Metamora.  ''Black"  Joe 
Belsley,  Christian  Smith,  and  John  Kennel  located 
near  Spring  Bay.  To  the  Wesley  City  colony  were 
added  this  year  Peter  Guth,  John  Sweitzer,  and  Joseph 
Summer. 

Up  to  this  time  the  colony  had  been  without  a 
minister,  but  after  the  arrival  of  Christian  Engle,  a 

bishop  ordained  in  Europe,  a 
The   First  church  was  organized  in  1833,  in 

Church  Organized       the    home    of   John    Engle.      This 

was  the  first  church  of  any  de- 
nomination to  be  organized  in  Woodford  county. 

The  colony  grew  rapidly.  Each  year  new  immi- 
grants came  from  Alsace,  Lorraine,  Bavaria,  or  occa- 
sionally from  Hesse-Darmstadt,  at  first  by  way  of 
Pennsylvania  and  the  Ohio  river,  but  later  by  way 
■of  New  Orleans  and  the  Mississippi.  Between  1834 
and  1850  in  addition  to  those  already  mentioned  came 
the  ancestors  of  those  families  now  bearing  the  names 
Schertz,  Bachman,  Garber,  Naffziger,  Litwiller,  Esch, 
Yordy,  Burkey,  Zehr,  Slagel,  Summer,  Oyer,  Ropp, 
Springer,  Guth,  Sweitzer,  Belsley,  Allbrecht,  Camp, 
Imhoff,  Rediger,  and  several  others.  By  1840  the 
settlement  extended  along  the  Black  Partridge  creek 


230  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

from  Spring  Bay  to  Metamora,  along  the  Ten  Mile 
creek  from  Peoria  to  Washington,  along  Dillon  creek 
in  Tazewell  county,  along  the  Mackinaw  river  in 
Woodford  county,  and  along  Rock  creek  in  McLean 
county. 

In  the  meantime  a  few  families  had  also  located 
in  Putnam  county  on  the  banks  of  the  Illinois.     In 

1835  a  Burkey  family  from  Butler  county 
Putnam  settled  near  Hennepin.  The  next  year  seve- 
County       ral  others  by  the  name  of  Burkey  came  from 

Bavaria.  These  were  followed  in  1837  by 
the  Allbrechts  from  the  same  place,  Hooleys  and 
Brennemans  from  Ohio,  and  others  from  Germany 
came  later.  In  1838  the  Allbrechts  moved  across  the 
river  into  Bureau  county,  near  Tiskilwa.  Others  fol- 
lowed and  soon  the  entire  colony  had  moved  across. 
For  a  while  the  congregation  was  in  charge  of  Bishop 
Andrew  Ropp  from  the  Dillon  creek  congregation,  but 
later  Joseph  Burkey  was  ordained  as  the  resident 
bishop,  a  position  which  he  still  holds. 

For  several  years  after  the  first  pioneers  arrived 
the  various  settlements  in  Woodford  and  Tazewell 
counties  formed  but  one  congregation,  and  services 
were  held  on  Sundays  in  turn  in  each  locality.  But 
as  the  colony  grew  separate  congregations  were  or- 
ganized in  the  several  centers  of  the  settlement.  Be- 
fore 1840  the  following  congregations  had  been  formed 
— Partridge,  Wesley  City  (known  as  "Die  Busche 
Gemein"),  Dillon  creek  (now  Pleasant  Grove),  and 
Rock  creek,  or  Mackinaw.  The  following  were  the 
first  bishops  of  these  respective  congregations — Chris- 
tian Engle,  Michael  Moseman,  Andrew  Ropp,  and 
Christian  Ropp,  all  ordained  before  1840. 


THE    AMISH  231 

All  of  the  early  settlers  thus  far  mentioned  had 
come  from  Europe,  but  between  1848  and  1852  several 
families — Lantz,  Troyer,  Yoder, 
Pennsylvanians  in  Kaufifman — from  Mifflin  county, 
McLean  County  Pennsylvania,  located  on  the  wild 
prairies  near  the  present  town  of 
Danvers,  close  to  the  Rock  creek  settlement.  With 
them  came  Jonathan  Yoder,  a  well  known  bishop  of 
his  day  and  also  Joseph  Stuckey  from  Butler  county. 
In  1853  the  Rock  creek  congregation  built  the  first 
Amish  meeting  house  in  the  state  and  one  of  the  very 
first  in  the  country. 

In  the  early  fifties  a  number  of  Hessian  immi- 
grants also  settled  near  Danvers.  One  of  their  earliest 
and  best  known  preachers  was  Michael 
Hessians  Kistler,  who  had  originally  come  from  But- 
ler county,  but  directly  from  Putnam 
county,  Illinois,  where  a  small  colony  of  Hessians 
had  also  settled.  Kistler  and  his  congregation  who 
had  brought  with  them  from  Europe  many  religious 
practices  and  customs  at  variance  with  those  of  their 
brethren  from  Alsace  and  in  America,  soon  found  them- 
selves out  of  harmony,  especially  with  that  part  of 
the  congregation  which  had  come  from  conservative 
Mififlin  county.  Yoder  and  Kistler  represented  the 
two  extremes  of  Amish  practice  of  that  day.  Accord- 
ingly about  1854  the  Hessians  formed  a  separate  con- 
gregation, as  their  countrymen  had  done  in  Butler 
county  some  time  earlier,  and  in  1862  built  what  is 
Icnown  as  the  South  Danvers  church.  The  old  Rock 
•creek  congregation  is  now  the  North  Danvers  church. 

These  pioneer  settlements,  with  the  exception  of 


232  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

the  last  one  mentioned  were  all  made  in  the  timbered 
sections    of    the    country    along    the 
The    Prairie  Illinois  river  and  its  tributaries.     Be- 

Congregations  ginning  with  the  early  fifties,  how- 
ever, many  of  the  descendants  of  the 
original  settlers  moved  to  the  more  fertile  prairie 
lands,  and  in  course  of  time  the  original  congregations 
were  transplanted  to  the  prairies  near  by.  In  this  way 
churches  were  established,  beginning  in  1854  at  Hope- 
dale,  Delavan,  Gridley  (on  the  Gridley  prairie), 
Roanoke  and  Fisher.  The  original  Partridge  congre- 
gation has  erected  a  church  building  several  miles 
east  of  Metamora. 

From  these  original  settlements  there  have  de- 
veloped ten  congregations.  .Exclusive  of  several  con- 
gregations which  have  joined  the  "Egli'  '  and 
""Stuckey"  branches  of  the  church,  and  of  many  who 
have  moved  to  other  western  states  the  combined 
membership,  made  up  almost  exclusively  of  the  de- 
scendants of  the  early  immigrants,  is  still  about  eleven 
hundred. 

In  addition  to  the  settlements  made  by  the  immi- 
grants from  Europe,  a  colony  of  the  Old  Order  was 
also  established  soon  after  the  Civil 
Old  Order  from      war  in  Douglas  and  Moultrie  coun- 
Pennsylvania  ties    by    Pennsylvanians.        In    1865 

Mose  Yoder  and  Dan  Miller  and 
Dan  Otto  from  Somerset  county  visited  Illinois  for  the 
purpose  of  finding  suitable  homes  for  themselves  and 
friends.  They  decided  upon  the  fertile  lands  of  Moul- 
trie and  Douglas  counties,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  town 
of  Arthur.  They  moved  to  the  new  location  the 
following  year  and  were  soon  followed  by  their  friends 


THE    AMISH  233 

from  Somerset  county,  and  others  who  had  gone  to 
Johnson  county,  Iowa,  some  time  before,  and  also  by 
a  number  from  Holmes  county,  Ohio.  The  settlement 
has  since  developed  into  four  large  congregations  or 
districts. 

The  Illinois  churches  have  in  turn  furnished  many 
settlers  for  colonies  in  Missouri,  Nebraska,  Kansas  and 
•other  western  states. 

Missouri 

The  pioneer  congregation  in  Missouri  was  located 
in  Hickory  county  about  the  middle  of  last  century, 
partly  by  European  immigrants,  and  partly  by  Amish 
irom  the  East.  Joseph  Nafifziger  was  the  earliest 
■settler  and  was  followed  by  those  bearing  the  names 
Rebe*-,  Yoder,  Klopfenstein,  etc.  Soon  after  the  Civil 
war  another  settlement,  now  by  far  the  largest  in  the 
state,  was  made  in  Cass  county.  Small  congregations 
"have  since  been  founded  also  in  Johnson,  Vernon  and 
Boone  counties.  Jacob  Kenagy  was  the  pioneer 
"bishop  of  this  community  and  was  for  many  years  a 
man  of  great  influence  among  his  people.-" 

Nebraska 

The  cheap  lands  of  Nebraska  attracted  the  Amisk 
.soon  after  the  state  was  organized.  The  first  settle- 
ment was  made  by  a  small  colony  of  eight  families  in 
1873  in  Seward  county.  The  colony  grew  rapidly 
from  the  beginning  by  the  addition  of  many  home- 
seekers  from  Iowa,  Illinois  and  other  states.     Illinois 


20.     See    Mennonite    Church    History,    by    Hartzler    and    Kauffman. 


234  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

has  furnished  the  larger  part  of  the  new  settlers.'^ 
Bishop  Joseph  Schlegel  came  to  the  congregation  in 
1879  from  Iowa,  and  has  ever  since  exerted  a  com- 
manding influence  over  the  churches  in  the  western 
states.  The  congregation  now  numbers  about  four 
hundred  members.  Other  settlements,  including  some 
of  the  Old  Order,  have  been  made  in  Fillmore,  Cum- 
mings.  Holt,  Hamilton,  and  Snell  counties. 

Kansas 

The  earliest  settlements  in  Kansas  were  made  by 
the  Old  Order  in  the  early  eighties  in  Reno  county 
where  they  now  have  three  congregations.  Later 
colonies  were  established  by  either  one  or  the  other  of 
the  two  branches  of  the  church  in  Harvey,  Pawnee, 
Reno,  Lyons,  Decatur  and  Anderson  counties. 

Within  recent  years  small  communities  of  Amish 
have  been  located  in  Oregon,  North  Dakota,  Colorado, 
Arkansas  and  Oklahoma,  and  the  work  of  searching 
for  cheaper  larKls  in  the  newer  states  is  still  being 
carried  on,  largely  by  the  poorer  members  of  the  older 
settlements. 

In   doctrine   there   was   not   much   difference   be- 
tween the  Amish  and  the  Mennonites.     Both  adopted 
the  Dort  confession  of  1632  as  the  best 
Doctrine  expression  of  their  faith.     The  Amish, 

and  Practice  however,  insisted  on  a  more  rigid  appli- 
cation of  the  ban  and  the  practice  of 
"shunning."  They  held  no  conferences  and  each  com- 
munity was  independent  of  every  other  in  its  religious 
government. 


21.     See   History  of   Seward   County  by  W.   W.   Cox. 


THE    AMISH  235 

i.ike  the  Mennonites  they  had  developed  a  strong 
denominational  spirit.  They  always  settled  in  small 
colonies  and  thus  came  very  little  in  contact  with  out- 
siders. 

They  were  in  many  respects  even  more  conserva- 
tive than  the  Mennonites  and  slow  to  adopt  new  cus- 
toms in  their  daily  living  and  religious  worship.  In 
Europe  they  had  had  no  meeting  houses.  Religious 
services  were  always  held  in  private  houses.  When_ 
they  came  to  America,  at  first  necessity,  but  finally 
custom  fixed  the  same  practice  here.  Meeting  houses 
before  1850  were  everywhere  looked  upon  as  worldly, 
and  tew  were  erected.  Since  the  members  of  the 
congregation  often  were  scattered  over  a  considerable 
territory  and  many  had  some  distance  to  the  place  of 
meeting,  the  members  with  whom  the  congregation 
met,  served  dinner  to  all  those  present.  Services  were 
generally  long,  lasting  until  late  in  the  afternoon,  and 
were  conducted  in  the  German  languge,  or  in  the 
East  in  the  "Pennsylvania  Dutch."  Preachers  usually 
were  plentiful.  The  Partridge  congregation  in  Illinois 
at  one  time  was  blessed  with  thirteen,  four  of  whom 
were  bishops.  Preachers  and  other  church  officials 
were  chosen  by  lot  and  were  of  three  classes,  "vollige 
diener"  (bishop),  "diener  zum  buch"  (preacher),  and 
"armendiener"  (deacon).  The  old  hymn  book,  the 
Ausbund,  popularly  known  as  "Das  dicke  Liederbuch" 
was  still  used  exclusively  in  religious  worship.  In 
their  singing  all  sang  the  melody  or  "einstimmig"  as 
it  was  called.  To  sing  more  than  one  of  the  four 
parts  seemed  worldly  and  hence  was  not  permitted. 
The  use  of  notes  with  the  hymns  was  regarded  as 
savoiing  of  pride  and  for  that  reason  also  prohibited. 


236  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

The  conservatism  of  the  Amish  manifested  itself 
especially  in  their  personal  appearance  and  manner 
of  dress.  Pride  is  apt  to  show  itself  most  conspicu- 
ously in  bodily  adornment,  and  hence  in  order  to  be 
"unworldly"  which  to  them  frequently  meant  to  be 
unlike  other  people,  they  were  slow  to  adopt  any 
changes,  and  frequently  went  to  absurd  lengths  in 
their  customs.  Their  clothes  were  home  made,  of 
prescribed  material  and  cut.  The  men  wore  no  sus- 
penders, for  these  were  considered  useless  and  worldly 
innovations  long  after  they  had  come  into  common 
use  among  their  fellow  men.  The  most  conspicuous 
departure  from  the  usual  customs  of  dress  was  the  use 
of  hooks  and  eyes  instead  of  buttons  on  their  coats 
and  vests.  This  also  was  a  relic  from  an  earlier  day 
when  buttons  were  unknown.  Amman  in  1693  had 
insisted  on  the  maintaining  of  the  older  custom.  For 
this  peculiarity  the  Amish  were  known  in  some  lo- 
calities in  Europe  as  "Haftler",  while  the  Mennonites 
on  the  other  hand  were  spoken  of  as  "Knopfler"  Taufer, 
Every  young  man  also  was  required  as  soon  as  he  was 
able,  to  grow  a  beard,  but  was  not  permitted  to  wear 
a  mustache.  This  custom  in  some  European  com- 
munities had  given  them  the  name  of  "Bartmanner.'^ 
The  hair  was  worn  long  and  was  cut  according  to  a 
prescribed  rule.  The  women,  likewise,  were  extremely 
plain  in  their  clothes.  Their  dress  was  of  a  plain 
color,  made  with  a  cape  over  the  shoulders  and  always 
accompanied  with  an  apron.  On  their  heads  they 
wore  the  old  fashioned,  long,  "slat"  bonnet. 

In  their  homes  and  in  their  everyday  life  the 
Amish  were  equally  plain  and  simple.  Pictures,  cur- 
tains, carpets,  and  everything  that  did  not  serve  some 


THE    AMISH  237 

immediate  useful  purpose  was  discarded  as  an  evi- 
dence of  pride.  In  the  early  half  of  the  nineteenth 
century  modern  top-buggies  and  in  some  cases  wind 
mills  and  other  modern  improvements  and  conven- 
iences were  often  regarded  as  too  worldly. 

They  were  opposed  to  higher  education  as  were 
also  the  Mennonites,  but  were  in  sympathy  with  such 
elementary  training  as  would  enable  their  children  to 
read  and  write. 

In  spite  of  these  peculiarities,  however,  the  Amish 
possessed  the  sounder  and  homelier  virtues  to  a  high 
degree,  and  always  won  the  respect  of  those  among 
whom  they  lived.  They  were  hardworking,  industri- 
ous, frugal,  honest,  and  usually  prosperous,  owning 
the  finest  farms  and  best  houses  in  their  communities. 
Above  all,  they  were  religious.  Wherever  a  colony 
was  located  there  a  church  was  soon  organized. 

This  characterization  does  not  apply  equally  to 
all  the  Amish  before  1850.  The  Hessians  as  we  saw, 
and  to  a  slight  degree  the  immigrants  from  other  parts 
of  Europe  differed  somewhat  in  their  customs  and 
practices  from  their  Pennsylvania  brethren. 

Up  to  1850,  with  the  exceptions  just  mentioned, 
the  Amish  of  America  were  one  body  and  differed 
little  in  their  social  customs  and  religious  faith  and 
practices.  But  by  that  time,  owing  to  the  new  element 
from  Europe,  the  lack  of  conferences  and  the  dis- 
integrating influences  due  to  the  practice  of  settling 
in  small  colonies  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  slight 
differences  both  in  opinions  and  customs  began  to 
creep  into  the  church. 

The  first  question  to  arouse  a  general  discussion 


238  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

was  that  of  baptism.  About  1850  Solomon  Beiler,  a 
bishop  in  Mifflin  county,  declared  that 
Discussions  baptism  ought  to  be  administered  in  a 
on  Baptism  running  stream,  and  not  within  a  house,, 
as  had  been  the  practice  up  to  that  time. 
The  question  was  taken  up  by  others  in  the  Kishoco- 
quillas  Valley,  and  created  considerable  discussion, 
Beiler's  chief  opponent  was  Abraham  Pitsche,  another 
bishop  in  the  valley.  Under  the  leadership  of  these 
two  men  the  discussion  was  kept  up  for  the  next  ten 
years.  The  dispute  was  never  compromised  and  re- 
sulted in  a  division  of  the  Mifflin  county  church.  The- 
followers  of  Pitsche  during  this  time  are  now  called 
the  "Pitsche"  church. 

In  the  meantime  the  question  was  taken  up  in 
other  localities.--  In  1850  Jacob  Yoder,  a  minister  in 
Wayne  couniy,  Ohio,  declared  in  favor  of  Beiler's 
views.  He  succeeded  in  getting  a  small  following  in 
his  own  county,  but  was  strongly  opposed  by  the 
Holmes  county  churches  which  were  still  very  con- 
servative. Differences  of  opinion  on  other  questions 
also  had  arisen  between  these  two  communities  during^ 
this  time.  So  by  1860  one  of  the  Holmes  county  ad- 
herents, in  speaking  of  Wayne  says, 

Es  wurde  nicht  fiir  gut  oder  notwendig  angesehen  dasz  die 
Diener  in  dem  Abrath  gehen.  Und  es  wurde  zu  zeiten  Rat 
gehalten  bei  offnen  Thiiren  in  der  Gegenwart  von  auswartig- 
en  Personen.  Die  alten  dicken  Liederbiicher  wurden  ver- 
worfen  und  die  neuen  Springweisen  eingefiihrt.  Auch  die 
Gebetbiicher  brauchten  sie  nicht  mehr.  Bann  und  Meidung 
wurden  selten  geiibt.  Hochmut,  Pracht  und  Ubermut  nahm 
iiberhand.  Es  hiesz  es  kommt  nicht  auf  das  auszerliche 
an,  wenn  nur  ihr  Herz  gut  ist.     Die  Hauser  wurden  prachtig 


22.     See  Shem  Zook.     Eine  Wahre  Darstellung,  etc,  and  David  A.  Troyer. 
Ein  Unpartheiischer  Bericht,  etc. 


THE    AMISH  239 

ausgeziert.  Alles  das  und  noch  viel  mehr  von  solcher  art 
entstand  durch  den  obengemeldeten  J.  Yoder  und  seinen 
Anhang.23 

It  was  for  the  purpose  of  harmonizing  these  and 
other  differences  which  had  arisen  among  the  various 
churches  of  the  country  that  a  series 
^^^^^^  of  general   conferences   were   held." 

Versammlungen  The  first  of  these  conferences,  which 
1862—1878  were  known  as  "die  Diener  Versamm- 

lungen," was  called  together  in 
1862  in  Wayne  county.  At  this  session  there  were 
present  seventy-two  ministers  from  Pennsylvania, 
Maryland,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois  and  Iowa.  Jonathan 
Yoder  of  Illinois  was  chosen  as  the  first  moderator. 
The  question  which  had  been  the  source  of  so  much 
discussion  for  ten  years,  was  taken  up  for  considera- 
tion, but  after  various  opinions  had  been  expressed, 
the  subject  was  dropped  without  any  definite  agree- 
ment having  been  arrived  at.  This,  however,  was  not 
the  only  subject  upon  which  the  churches  differed. 
Levi  Miller  of  Holmes  county,  representing  the  con- 
servative element,  said  that  other  subjects  also  needed 
consideration,  such  as  lightning  rods,  photographs, 
lotteries,  large   meeting  houses,   insurance,   etc. 

That  there  was  considerable  dissension  through- 
out the  church  at  this  time  is  shown  by  the  fact  that 
the  conference  appointed  special  committees  to  in- 
vestigate the  troubles  existing  between  the  congre- 
gations of  Holmes  and  Wayne  counties,  Elkhart  and 
Lagrange,   and    Champaign    and    Logan.      Complaint 


23.  David   A.    Troyer. 

24.  For  a   detailed  account   of  the   proceedings   of  these   conferences   lee 

the    reports    pubhshed    annually    under    the    title    "Die    Diener    Ver- 
sammlung,"    Elkhart,    Ind.      1862-1878. 


240  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

was  also  made  that  the  congregation  in  Butler  county 
permitted  the  use  of  musical  instruments.  The  sub- 
ject of  "kleiderpracht"  likewise  received  some  atten- 
tion. 

After  a  two  days'  discussion  of  these  various  sub- 
jects, evidently  without  coming  to  any  definite  conclu- 
sion on  any  of  them,  the  conference  adjourned  to  meet 
again  the  following  year  in  Mifflin  county,  Penn- 
sylvania. 

These  meetings  were  held  (annually  for  some 
years  in  various  states.  Questions  relating  to  the 
general  policy  of  the  church  were  discussed.  Gen- 
erally discussions  were  plentiful,  but  definite  decisions^ 
few.  One  of  the  sessions  held  during  the  war  decreed 
that  no  member  could  serve  as  a  teamster  in  the  army, 
neither  could  any  one  who  had  been  in  the  war  and 
had  been  disabled  before  he  had  been  a  member  lay 
claim  to  any  pension  that  might  be  due  him.  In  1868 
it  was  decided  that  since  the  Amish  were  a  non- 
resistant  people,  they  could  not  deliver  up  a  thief  to 
the  civil  authorities  for  punishment.  During  several 
of  the  following  years  the  trouble  with  Joseph  Stuckey 
claimed  some  attention  from  the  conference,  but  the 
later  sessions  with  a  few  exceptions  are  not  of  great 
interest.  Among  the  leading  spirits  of  these  confer- 
ences were  J.  K.  Yoder  of  Wayne  county,  Jonathan 
Yoder  and  Joseph  Stuckey  of  Illinois,  John  P.  King  of 
Logan  county,  and  Shem  Zook,  a  layman  from  Mifflin 
county,  who  frequently  acted  as  secretary  of  the  con- 
ference. Although  these  meetings  may  have  been 
productive  of  some  good,  yet  they  failed  to  bring 
about  the  object  for  which  they  were  first  called — har- 
mony among  the  various  factions.     The  last  sessior* 


^  THE  JONATHAN  SCHR(3CK  BARN  of  Wayne  county, 
Ohio.  Here  was  held  in  1862  the  first  of  the  series  of  the  Amish 
"Uiener  Versammlungen."  The  meeting  houses  were  not  large 
enough  to  accommodate  the  large  crowds  that  used  to  attend 
these  meetings  and  so  many  of  the  conferences  were  held  in 
large  barns. 


BETHEL    COLLHGiC 


THE    AMISH  241 

was  held  in  1878  near  Eureka,  Illinois.  The  reasons 
for  the  discontinuance  of  the  sessions  were  lack  of 
interest  on  the  part  of  the  ministry,  failure  of  the  con- 
ference to  bring  about  harmony,  and  to  a  slight  degree 
petty  jealousies  among  some  of  the  leaders.  Some 
years  later  the  general  conference  was  replaced  by 
state  and  district  conferences. 

During  this  time  the  church  had  become  divided 
into  several  permanent  factions.  On  the  one  hand  the 
congregations  in  Butler  county,  Ohio,  and  McLean 
county,  Illinois,  discarded  some  of  the  earlier  restric- 
tions on  dress  and  adopted  a  more  liberal  church  policy. 
On  the  other  hand  a  goodly  number  of  the  extreme 
conservatives  withdrew  from  the  conference  and  to- 
gether with  others  who  had  never  favored  it,  main- 
tained without  any  modification  the  good  old  customs 
of  the  fathers.  These  are  now  generally  known  as  the 
Old  Order.  In  between  these  two  were  left  a  large 
number  of  congregations  which  occupy  a  middle  posi- 
tion. These  have  gradually  assumed  the  name  Amish- 
Mennonite,  and  are  found  principally  in  Ohio,  Indiana 
Illinois  and  the  western  states. 

The  Old  Order  furnish  an  interesting  relic  of  the 
customs  which  prevailed  among  all  the  Amish  several 
generations  ago.  In  spirit  they  have 
Old  Order  changed  none  at  all  within  the  last  fifty 
Customs  years,  and  in  practice  very  little.  The 
men  still  use  hooks  and  eyes  and  wear 
beards  and  long  hair.  Their  clothes  are  still  home- 
made and  cut  after  a  pattern  common  generations  ago. 
Many  are  still  suspenderless.  The  women  still  wear 
the  plain  tight-fitting  dress,  with  the  cape  and  apron, 
and  the  old  fashioned  bonnet.    In  addition,  their  con- 


242  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

servatism  has  kept  them  from  adopting  many  of  the 
daily  conveniences  as  well  as  religious  practices  which 
have  come  into  use  during  the  last  fifty  years.  Among 
the  "new"  things  which  are  still  under  the  ban  are 
telephones,  top-buggies,  dashboards,  bicycles,  furn- 
aces, carpets,  window  curtains,  musical  instruments, 
"note"  books,  "store"  suspenders,  etc.  They  have  no 
meeting  houses  and  are  opposed  to  conferences,  Sun- 
day schools,  revivals,  and  evening  meetings. 

Even  within  these  limitations,  however,  there  are 
slight  differences  among  the  various  communities. 
The  church  in  Mifflin  county  serves  as  a  good  illustra- 
tion of  the  different  varieties  of  Amish.  There  are 
five  in  the  valley,  ranging  from  the  most  conservative, 
locally  known  as  the  "Nebraskas"  whose  women  still 
wear  the  old  Shaker  hat,  the  predecessor  of  the  bonnet, 
tied  under  the  chin,  and  whose  men  are  not  permitted 
to  adorn  themselves  with  suspenders ;  and  the 
"Peacheyites",  two  steps  higher,  who  may  wear  one 
single  suspender  provided  it  be  home  made ;  and  next, 
those  who  may  hold  up  their  trousers  with  the  double 
suspender  but  who  insist  on  most  of  the  other  restric- 
tions ;  the  congregation  organized  a  few  years  ago  by 
Abe  Zook,  then  last  the  Amish  Mennonites  who  wor- 
ship in  church  houses,  maintain  Sunday  schools  and 
have  discarded  most  of  the  restrictions  on  dress  with 
the  exception  of  the  bonnet. 

The  principal  centers  of  the  Old  Order  are  Lan- 
caster and  Mifflin  counties,  Pennsylvania,  Holmes 
county,  Ohio,  Lagrange,  Elkhart,  Howard  and  Davies 
counties,  Indiana,  Douglas  and  Moultrie  counties,  Ill- 
inois, and  Washington  and  Johnson  counties,  Iowa, 
with  smaller  communities  in  many  other  places. 


THE    AMISH  243 

While  these  events  above  mentioned  were  tak- 
ing place,  the  church  in  other  parts  of  the  country 
was  being  agitated    by  the  appearance  of 
The  "New     a  new  sect  from  Switzerland — the  so-call- 
Amish"  ed  New  Amish. 

These  "New  Amish,"  as  they  are  call- 
-ed  in  Illinois,  or  "Neu  Taufer,"  as  they  are  known  in 
Ohio,  or  the  Apostolic  church,  as  they  name  them- 
selves, are  not  a  branch  of  the  Amish  as  their  name 
might  suggest,  but  their  early  history  both  in  Europe 
and  America  is  so  closely  associated  with  that  of  the 
Amish  that  a  brief  sketch  of  this  connection  is  not 
out  of  place  here.-^ 

The  Apostolic  church  was  founded  by  Samuel 
Frolich,  a  theological  student  at  Zurich,  who  in  1832 
was  deposed  from  the  ministry  of  the  Reformed 
church  in  Argau.  He  immediately  began  to  organize  a 
ohurch  of  his  own.  While  engaged  in  this  work  he 
visited  Emmenthal,  and  there  was  well  received  by 
Christian  Gerber  and  Christian  Baumgartner,  two 
Amishmen  who  were  dissatisfied  with  their  own 
•church.  Two  years  later  George  Steiger,  a  disciple 
■of  Frolich's,  and  at  that  time  a  young  man  of  twenty- 
one,  appeared  among  the  Amish  of  Emmenthal  and 
•organized  a  large  church  of  sixty  dissatisfied  Amish, 
including  Gerber  and  Baumgartner,  and  of  a  larger 
number  of  the  national  church.  Steiger  rebaptized 
all  the  new  proselytes  and  taught  that  only  those  who 
followed  his  teaching  could  be  eternally  saved.  All 
other  teaching  was  false.  The  new  sect  grew  rapidly 
and  early  manifested  that  seclusive  and  self-righteous 
spirit  which  has  been  characteristic  of  them  to  this 


25.     See  Ernst  Miiller,  Geschichte  der   Bernischen  Tauf«r,  p.   389. 


244  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

•day.  They  kept  themselves  from  contact  with  the 
■outside  world  as  much  as  possible,  and  would  not 
send  their  children  to  public  schools,  but  established 
private  schools.  They  followed  to  the  letter  the  teach- 
ing of  Luke  10:     "Salute  no  man  by  the  way." 

In  1846  seven  of  these  people  came  from  Switzer- 
land to  Ohio,  where  they  soon  found  their  way  to  the 
Swiss  Mennonites  in  Wayne  county  and  secured  a 
small  following  among  them.-*  In  1852  several  more 
appeared  among  the  Amish  of  Lewis  county.  New 
York,  and  won  over  to  their  faith  some  of  the  Verk- 
lers,  Fahrneys  and  others.  From  here  one  of  the 
Verklers  and  a  certain  Weynet,  one  of  the  leaders 
from  Switzerland  came  to  Woodford  county,  Illinois, 
and  began  proselyting  among  the  Amish.  Their 
first  converts  were  Joseph  Graybil,  who  became  their 
first  minister  in  Illinois,  John  and  Joseph  Verkler, 
cousins  of  their  namesake  from  New  York,  Peter 
Engle,  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of  Woodford  county, 
and  others  who  had  been  more  or  less  dissatisfied 
with  the  church,  and  thus  fell  an  easy  prey  to  the 
proselyting  zeal  of  the  strangers.  A  small  following 
was  also  gained  in  the  Dillon  creek  settlement.  Gray- 
bil was  a  zealous  devotee  of  the  new  sect  and  labored 
unceasingly  to  win  new  converts.  In  1862  he  went 
to  Butler  county,  Ohio,  and  established  a  small  church 
among  the  Amish  at  that  place. 

Small  congregations  have  since  been  organized  in 
•other  states,  but  Illinois  is  still  the  stronghold  of  the 
sect.  The  growth  at  first  was  slow.  By  1877  they 
numbered  in  all  only  eighty-nine  members.  But  dur- 
ing recent  years  there  has  been  a  heavy  immigration 


'.26.     See   introduction    to    "Glaubens    Bekenntnisz    der    Neuen    Baptisten." 


THE    AMISH  245 

from  Switzerland  and  now  there  are  a  number  of 
large  congregations  in  central  Illinois,  aggregating  in 
all  perhaps  several  thousand  members. 

In  doctrine  and  practice  this  sect  has  been  in- 
fluenced somewhat  by  the  fact  that  many  of  its  earliest 
adherents  came  from  the  ranks  of  the  Amish.  They 
are  thoroughly  non-resistant,  and  have  nothing  to 
do  with  civil  government.  In  dress  they  are  extreme- 
ly plain,  but  as  a  result  of  Swiss  influence  the  women 
are  permitted  to  wear  plain  hats  instead  of  bonnets. 
In  doctrine,  however,  they  differ  in  several  respects 
from  the  Amish.  They  baptize  by  immersion  and  ob- 
serve the  practice  of  feetwashing,  although  not  in 
connection  with  the  communion  service.  They  are 
very  exclusive  and  have  as  little  business  and  social 
relation  with  others  as  possible.  Religious  associ- 
ation with  other  churches  they  have  none  whatever. 
They  are  forbidden  by  the  rules  of  their  organization 
to  listen  to  the  preaching  or  praying,  or  any  religious 
exercise  performed  by  a  minister  not  of  their  faith, 
and  for  that  reason  they  never  attend  the  funeral 
services  of  even  their  nearest  relatives  if  such  relatives 
or  friends  were  not  members  of  their  sect. 

They  make  free  use  of  the  ban  in  their  religious 
discipline,  and  insist  on  a  rigid  application  of  the  prac- 
tice of  "shunning  of  such  as  are  expelled.  This  prac- 
tice shuts  out  an  expelled  member  from  all  business,, 
social  and  religious  association  with  his  former  fel- 
low-members. Frequently  the  ban  completely  dis- 
rupts the  domestic  relations  of  the  family.  Husband 
and  wife  are  not  even  permitted  to  eat  at  the  same 
table  when  one  or  the  other  has  been  excommunicated. 
The  practice  has  worked  havoc  in  a  number  of  fam- 


246  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

ilies  in  central  Illinois.  The  most  notorious  case  was 
that  of  Samuel  Moser,  who  because  of  strained  fam- 
ily relations  was  led  to  brutally  murder  his  wife  and 
three  children  several  years  ago.  This  case  and  sev- 
eral others  similar  to  it  have  given  the  New  Amish 
within  recent  years  considerable  notoriety,  and  called 
forth  a  great  deal  of  unfavorable  criticism  throughout 
the  state. 

Hardly  had  the  excitement  which  was  caused  by 
the  appearance  of  the  New  Amish  in  New  York,  Ohio 

and  Illinois  subsided  when  another  church 
The  "Egli"  trouble  arose,  this  time  in  Adams  county, 
Defection       Indiana.      The   principal    in    the    factional 

strife  here,  which  was  the  beginning  of 
another  church  division,  was  Henry  Egli,  a  minister 
of  the  Amish  congregation  in  this  county. 

About  1864  ,Egli  began  to  urge  the  necessity  of 
a  definite  experience  of  regeneration  in  the  religious 
life.  His  charges  against  the  church  were  that  it  was 
too  formal,  that  applicants  for  membership,  especially 
among  the  younger  element,  were  received  with  in- 
sufficient preliminary  instruction,  that  the  members 
were  lacking  in  spiritual  life  and  that  they  were  not 
strict  enough  in  maintaining  the  old  customs,  especial- 
ly with  regard  to  dress.  Some  of  these  charges  no 
doubt  were  the  result  of  personal  contention,  but  that 
the  church  at  this  time  frequently  paid  more  attention 
to  the  letter  than  to  the  spirit  there  can  be  no  doubt. 
Even  though  some  of  these  charges  were  well  founded, 
it  cannot  be  said  that  Egli  and  his  immediate  follow- 
-ers  reduced  this  formality  to  a  very  appreciable  ex- 
tent. It  simply  cropped  out  among  them  in  another 
direction. 


THE    AMISH  247 

Egli  in  1866  withdrew  from  the  church  and  or- 
ganized another  which  has  since  been  called  the  "Egli" 
Amish  by  those  of  the  organization  which  he  forsook. 
A  large  part  of  the  congregation  in  Adams  county 
later  became  identified  with  the  movement. 

A  few  years  later  the  same  contention  arose  in 
Livingston  county,  Illinois,  under  the  leadership  of 
Joseph  Rediger,  bishop  of  the  congregation.  Rediger, 
with  the  assistance  of  Egli,  who  was  a  distant  rela- 
tive of  his  and  with  whom  he  had  had  some  communi- 
cation before  on  the  subject  organized  a  small  "Egli" 
church  out  of  a  few  of  the  dissatisfied  members  of  the 
Gridley  congregation. 

In  the  Wesley  City  congregation  almost  the  en- 
tire membership,  including  Michael  Moseman,  one  of 
the  pioneer  bishops  of  the  state,  and  Nicholas  Roth, 
another  minister,  turned  to  the  new  faith.  From 
these  small  beginnings  have  developed  large  congre- 
gations at  Gridley  and  Groveland,  Illinois,  Berne,Ind- 
iana,  Archbold,  Ohio,  and  a  number  of  smaller  con- 
gregations in  other  states. 

This  church  although  spoken  of  as  the  Egli  Am- 
ish by  the  members  of  the  parent  organization, 
calls  itself  officially  the  Defenseless  Mennonite  church. 
The  name  is  somewhat  misleading  to  those  unac- 
quainted with  Mennonite  history,  since  "defenseless- 
ness"  is  no  more  characteristic  of  this  than  of  other 
branches  of  the  Mennonite  denomination.  The  name 
was  officially  assumed  during  the  Civil  war  when  in 
negotiating  for  a  deed  to  the  church  property  at  Grid- 
ley  this  term  was  hit  upon. 

At  first  the  Egli  people  were  very  strict  in  their 


248  MENNONITES    OF   AMERICA 

discipline  and  were  more  rigid  in  maintaining  the 
old  regulations  with  regard  to  dress  than  the  Amish, 
They  were  quite  exclusive  and  had  little  religious  or 
social  affiliation  with  the  church  from  which  they 
withdrew.  They  insisted  on  a  definite  "religious  ex- 
perience" and  rebaptized  all  those  that  could  not  con- 
fess that  they  had  been  truly  converted  at  the  time 
of  their  first  baptism,  a  confession  which  of  course 
under  the  circumstances  few  could  make. 

During  recent  years,  however,  a  marked  change 
has  taken  place  in  the  relation  of  the  two  organiza- 
tions. The  second  generation  of  the  Egli  branch  has 
assumed  a  more  liberal  attitude  toward  the  old  church, 
and  the  latter  too  has  changed  decidedly  for  the  bet- 
ter, and  so  the  two  are  again  working  in  harmony  in 
the  interests  of  a  broader  Christianity. 

Hard  upon  the  Egli  division  followed  the  trouble 
between  Joseph  Stuckey  and  the  general  conference 
already  mentioned.    Stuckey  was  a 
Illinois  Conference      bishop  in  the  Rock  creek,  Illinois, 
of  Mennonltes  congregation,  and  was  one  of  the 

leading  men  in  the  church.  He 
was  intelligent,  of  strong  personality,  a  writer  of  some 
ability,  and  talented  with  more  than  ordinary  execu- 
tive power.  He  was  one  of  the  leading  spirits 
Joseph  in  the  general  conference,  and  was  more 
Stuckey  liberal  minded  on  religious  questions  than 
most  of  his  fellow  ministers.  This  brought 
liim  into  friction  occasionally  with  other  leaders  even 
before  1870,  about  the  time  when  his  troubles  began. 

About  this  time  a  certain  Joseph  Yoder,  a  member 
of  Stuckey 's  congregation,  a  school  teacher  and  a  dab- 


THE    AMISH  249 

bier  in  verses,  wrote  a  long  poem  which  he  published 
under  the  title  of  "Die  Frohe  Botschaft." 
■"Die  Frohe  The  leading  thought  in  the  poem  was 
Botschaft"  that  all  men  will  be  saved  eternally  and 
none  punished  for  their  sins.  This  senti- 
ment was  rank  heresy  among  the  Amish  and  natur- 
ally aroused  a  good  deal  of  resentment.  The  confer- 
•ence  which  met  in  Fulton  county,  Ohio,  in  1870  dis- 
cussed the  question.  What  is  to  be  done  with  those 
members  who  do  not  believe  in  future  punishment? 
and  finally  resolved  after  a  long  discussion  to  expel 
such  from  the  church  if  they  persisted  in  their  er- 
rors. Stuckey  who  evidently  was  of  the  same  opinion 
as  Yoder  on  this  question  refused  to  excommunicate 
the  latter  and  thus  ran  counter  to  the  decision  of  the 
conference.  The  next  session,  held  in  Livingston 
county,  Illinois,  took  up  in  secret  meeting  the  con- 
tention between  Stuckey  and  his  fellow  ministers.  A 
committee  of  seven  was  appointed  to  investigate  the 
matter.  Another  committee  of  three — Abner  Yoder 
of  Iowa,  Samuel  Yoder  and  Moses  B.  Miller  of  Penn- 
sylvania— was  appointed  to  visit  the  churches  in  Ill- 
inois and  report  their  condition  at  the  next  conference. 
The  conference  of  1872  met  in  Lagrange  county, 
Indiana.  After  reading  the  report  of  the  above 
committee  which  was  carefully  worded  so  as  not  to 
make  any  definite  charges  but  was  full  of  general  ad- 
monition, Stuckey  was  requested  to  make  a  public 
confession.  Stuckey  was  present  at  the  conference  but 
his  name  does  not  appear  on  the  official  register,  be- 
ing withheld  at  his  own  request,  as  he  said  that  he  was 
absent  part  of  the  time,  and  did  not  wish  to  sub- 
scribe to  the  proceedings  with  which  he  had  nothing 


250  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

to  do.  There  is  no  evidence  from  the  records  that  he 
made  a  confession.  "Die  Frohe  Botschaft"  again 
came  up  for  discussion  at  this  session.  Several  verses 
were  read  before  the  conference  and  it  vv^as  again  de- 
clared that  all  members  holding  such  opinions  as  were 
expressed  in  the  poem  were  to  be  placed  under  the 
ban. 

In   the    meantime   another   committee   consisting 
of  J.  K.  Yoder,  J.  P.  King  and  A.  Yoder,  all  easterners, 
was  appointed  to  visit  the  Illinois  congre- 
Eastern  gations  and  adjudicate  the  difficulties  be- 

Committee  tween  Stuckey  and  Christian  Ropp,  an- 
other bishop  in  the  same  locality.  In  Oc- 
tober of  1872  this  committee  visited  Stuckey  and 
among  other  questions  asked  him  whether  he  acknowl- 
edged the  author  of  "Die  Frohe  Botschaft"  as  a  broth- 
er in  the  church.  He  replied  in  the  affirmative  and 
added  that  he  had  permitted  Yoder  to  participate  in 
the  communion  service.  Whereupon  the  committee 
declared  that  they  could  no  longer  consider  him  in 
harmony  with  the  church  at  large,  and  consequently 
they  were  obliged  to  withdraw  from  him  and  his  con- 
gregation. Most  of  the  churches  in  Illinois  accepted 
the  decision  of  the  committee  as  final  and  it  was  an- 
nounced in  the  various  congregations  that  Stuckey 
and  his  congregation  were  no  longer  considered  a 
member  of  the  general  conference.  After  this  he  was 
no  longer  present  at  the  conferences  which  continued 
to  be  held  for  several  years.  There  was  no  further 
formal  division  however.  The  Illinois  congregations 
were  independent  of  each  other  and  each  went  its  own 
way.  But  when  in  the  eighties,  the  Western  district 
conference  was  organized  Stuckey's  church  was  not 


THE    AMISH  251 

included.     Since  then,  his  followers  have  been  con- 
sidered as  a  separate  branch  of  the  church. 

This  is  the  story  as  it  appears  in  the  conference 
reports.  Of  course  this  does  not  tell  everything. 
Back  of  it  all  there  were  in  addition  to  the  contentions 
already  mentioned,  many  petty  jealousies  and  lack 
of  forbearance  on  the  part  of  various  conference  lead- 
ers. Stuckey  was  without  doubt  more  liberal  minded 
than  most  of  the  ministers  of  his  time,  but  on  the  other 
hand  many  of  the  others,  especially  the  easterners, 
were  still  addicted  to  formalities  which  have  since 
been  discarded.  Had  the  Illinois  congregations  been 
permitted  to  settle  the  controversy  in  their  own  way 
it  is  altogether  probable  that  there  would  have  been 
no  division. 

As  we  saw,  Stuckey's  congregation  stood  by  him 
in  this  contention.  He  also  retained  supervision  over 
a  small  church  at  Meadows,  which  he 
The  Stuckey  had  served  as  bishop  before  1870.  Soon 
Congregations  after,  he  also  organized  a  church  near 
Washington  among  a  number  of  mem- 
bers of  the  Partridge  congregation  who  had  become 
involved  in  a  church  quarrel.  His  brother,  Peter 
Stuckey,  had  charge  of  this  congregation  for  many 
years.  Since  then  many  of  the  old  church  have  gone 
over  the  Stuckey  following,  which  has  grown  con- 
tinually from  the  first.  There  are  at  present  twelve 
congregations  in  central  Illinois  and  nearly  as  many 
more  scattered  throughout  Ohio,  Nebraska,  Iowa  and 
Indiana.  The  entire  membership  approximates  two 
thousand. 

In  1899  these  congregations  organized  a  confer- 


252  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

ence  now  known  as  the  "Illinois  Conference  of  Men- 
nonites,"     Although   a  branch  ■  of   the 
Conference  Amish   church   they  disown  the  name 

Organized  1899    as  well  as  the  term  "Stuckey"  Amish, 
by  which  they  are  commonly  known 
among  the  old  church,  and  have  assumed  the  more 
comprehensive  name  of  Mennonite.^^ 

In  doctrine  this  branch  of  the  church  does  not 
differ  from  the  main  body.    In  their  practices  they  are 

a  little  more  liberal,  especially  with  re- 
Leading  Men     gard  to  dress.    Women  are  permitted  to- 

wear  hats  instead  of  bonnets.  Under 
the  leadership  of  such  men  at  Peter  Schantz,  Valen- 
tine Strubhar,  Joseph  King,  Emanuel  Troyer  and  Lee 
Lantz,  all  of  them  comparatively  young  men  and  tal- 
ented, the  church  is  making  steady  progress  both  in 
numbers  and  spiritual  life. 


27.  This  tendency  manifests  itself  in  all  the  branches  of  the  denom- 
ination. All,  with  the  exception  of  the  Old  Order  Amish,  arc- 
now  assuming  the  name  Mennonite.  The  factional  names  are 
used  in  this  book  merely  for  the  sake  of  convenience  and  greater 
clearness. 


CHAPTER  IX 


DURING  THE  REVOLUTION 

The  Mennonites  during  the  Revolution  were  gen- 
erally opposed  to  the  war.^  It  was  not  because,  like 
the  Tories,  they  favored  the  .English  crown, 
Opposition  but  because  they  were  antagonistic  to  all 
to  War  war  and  rebellion  as  inconsistent  with  their 
religious  principles.  Their  attitude  toward 
the  questions  at  issue  was  generally  one  of  neutrality, 
although  at  heart  many  of  them  may  have  secretly 
wished  well  to  the  cause  of  the  colonies. 

How  they  were  exempted  by  several  of  the  col- 


See  Pa.  Arch.,  V.  767.  Also  Governor  McKean's  letter  to  John, 
Adams,  written  Jan.  7,  1814,  quoted  in  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  Fifth 
Ser.,  Vol.   IV.  p.   506. 

"Dear  Sir— In  your  favor  of  the  26  of  November  last  you  yen- 
ture  to  say  that  about  a  third  of  the  people  of  the  colonies  were 
against  the  Revolution.  It  required  much  reflection  before  I 
could  form  my  opinion  on  this  subject,  but  on  mature  deliberation 
I  conclude  you  are  right  and  that  more  than  a  third  of  the 
influential  characters  were  against  it.  The  opposition  consisted 
chiefly  of  Friends  or  Quakers,  the  Mennonists,  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copalians whose  clergy  received  salaries  from  the  Society  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  parts,  and  from  the  officers^ 
of  the  crown  and  proprietors  of  Provinces  with  their  connections, 
adding  the  timid  and  those  who  believed  the  colonies  would  be 
conquered  and  that  of  course  they  would  be  safe  in  their  persons- 
and  property  from  such  conduct,  and  also  have  a  probability  o» 
claiming  office  and  distinction,  and  also  the  discontented  and  ca» 
pricious   of  all   grades." 


254  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

onies  in  the  early  years  of  the  war  from  active  rhilitary 
service  has  been  told  elsewhere.  This  ex- 
Fincs  and  emption  was  secured,  however,  by  the 
War  Taxes  payment  of  a  money  fine,  or  in  other  cases 
by  other  service  such  as  hauling  provis- 
ions, and  similar  work. 

That  these  fines  were  imposed  and  collected  can 
be  seen  by  an  examination  of  the  records  of  the  war 
officials  of  that  time.  From  Lancaster  county  in  1780 
among  others,  the  following  fines  are  reported,^ 

£ 

Martin  Funk  50 

John    Shank  50 

John  Hostater  90 

Michael  Staufifer  110 

Peter  Yorty  110 

John  Hertzler  SO 

From  Chester  county  are  reported  among  others^ 

£  d.  d. 

John  Buckwalter                                       26  12  10 

Christian    Holdeman                                   13  0  0 

Matthias    Pennypacker                              55  5  1 

David  Buckwalter                                        55  5  1 

These  fines  as  well  as  the  regular  war  taxes  were 
not  always  paid  willingly  nor  without  some  attempt 

to  evade  them.  The  question  of  war  taxes 
Fines  led,  as  we  shall  see,  to  dissension  among 

Opposed       some  of  the  congregations  of  the  Franconia 

conference  district.  Being  a  nonresistant 
people,  many  of  them,  like  the  Quakers,  felt  that  to  pay 
a  fine  or  a  special  tax  for  the  support  of  war  was  as  in- 
consistent with  their  religious  principles  as  to  enlist  in 


2.  Pa.   Arch.,   Sec.   Ser.,   VI.   p.   433. 

3.  S.    W.    Pennypacker.      Annals   of    Phoenixville,   p.    118. 


DURING   THE  REVOLUTION  255 

the  army  for  actual  service.  How  general  this  view- 
was  among  the  Mennonites  it  is  difficult  to  say,  but 
Christian  Funk,*  waiting  of  the  conditions  at  this  time 
says, 

The  majority  of  the  ministers  in  the  western  part  of 
Montgomery  county  were  opposed  to  the  payment  of  a  new 
war  tax  of  three  pounds,  and  ten  shillings  which  had  been 
levied  in  1777. 

The  Mennonites  objected  not  only  to  service  in 
the  army  and  the  payment  of  fines  and  occasional 
war  taxes,  but  also  to  the  new  oath  which  soon  after 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  required  of  all 
subjects  of  the  newly  formed  sovereignties.  Penn- 
sylvania, like  all  the  other  states  required  a  new  oath 
of  allegiance  from  all  its  citizens.  To  the  usual  ob- 
jections to  oaths  in  general,  the  Mennonites  added 
to  this  one  in  particular  the  fear  lest  it  might  obligate 
them  to  espouse  the  Revolutionary  cause  and  to  take 
up  arms  in  its  defense. 

That  this  opposition  was  quite  general  is  shown 
by  a  letter  written  in  1778  by  a  local  official  in  Lan- 
caster county  to  a  Mr.  Bryan,  at  that  time  the  Vice 
President  of  Pennsylvania.     He  says. 

You  will  forgive  these  hints  which  will  give  your 
weightier  affairs  but  little  interruption  to  be  used  as  you  think 
they  deserve.  I  have  been  in  several  parts  of  three  counties 
of  this  state  and  find  in  all  great  complaints  made  by 
Menomsts  and  Quakers,  of  the  oath  of  allegiance  now  re- 
quired of  its  subjects  as  including  an  obligation  to  fight  con- 
trary to  their  known  principles.  They  say,  a  good  many  at 
least,  that  they  would  affirm  to  be  faithful  subjects  of  the 
state  endeavoring  nothing  to  its  hurt,  but  discover  all  they 


4.     See  Christian   Funk's  Mirror  for  all  Mankind. 


256  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

knew  doing  so  etc.,  in  consistence  with  their  principles 
against  bearing  arms.  To  require  more  of  them  they  say  is- 
persecution.  And  though  the  constitution  promises  the  rights 
of  subjects  to  all  denominations,  presently  oaths  are  required 
which  they  cannot  take  unless  otherwise  qualified,  without 
renouncing  their  principles  and  they  are  sincere  in  their 
profession.  I  find  some  of  our  sensible  Whigs  say  that  an 
oath  of  allegiance  suited  to  these  people's  known  sentiments 
might  increase  the  Friends  of  the  state  and  lessen  the  warm 
discontents  of  many,  and  then  levy  more  from  them  than 
others  under  the  name  of  a  Tax  for  the  use  of  the  state,  but 
not  fines,  as  they  would  enjoy  greater  advantages  by  not 
bearing  arms.  And  such  as  refuse  qualifications  so  framed 
would  have  no  excuse  but  appear  plainly  to  be  enemies. ^ 

Many  of  the  Mennonites  refused  to  take  the  oath 
and  in  some  cases  such  as  did  take  it  were  excommun- 
icated from  the  church.^  The  state  authorities,  how- 
ever, knowing  them  to  be  peaceable  citizens  and  not 
enemies,  were  lenient  toward  them. 

It  is  not  at  all  surprising  to  find  that  the  motives  of 
the  Mennonites  in  their  refusal  to  support  the  war 
and  take  the  new  oath  were  misunder- 
Misunderstood  stood  and  frequently  misconstrued.  Not 
to  take  up  arms  against  the  British 
and  not  to  take  the  oath  were  construed  as  indica- 
tions of  loyalty  to  the  king  of  England  and  of  un- 
friendliness to  the  state  of  Pennsylvania,  As  we 
have  seen,  both  the  state  and  colonial  governments 
in  Pennsylvania  were  generally  considerate  of  Men- 
nonite  and  Quaker  consciences  on  these  questions. 
Usually  also  Mennonites  were  not  seriously  disturbed 
by  the  radical  patriots  in  their  own  immediate  local- 
ities.   Occasionally,  however,  when  the  heat  and  ex- 


S.     Pa.  Arch,   First  Ser.,  VI.  p.   572. 

t.     See  case  of  Henry  Funk.     Pa.  Arch.,  Sec.  Ser.,  III.  p.  463. 


DURING  THE  REVOLUTION  257 

citement  of  the  struggle  was  at  its  highest,  attempts 
were  made  by  irresponsible  mobs  to  deprive  them, 
like  the  Tories,  of  their  property,  and  in  other  ways 
to  intimidate  them,  A  broadside  now  to  be  seen  in 
Independence  Hall  in  Philadelphia  shows  that  even 
in  Lancaster  where  their  principles  ought  to  have 
been  best  understood  by  their  neighbors,  they  were 
not  altogether  secure  from  mob  violence.  The  broad- 
side was  issued  by  the  Committee  of  Inspection  and 
Observation  of  Lancaster  county  under  date  of  May 
29,  1775,  and  reads  in  part  as  follows. 

The  committee  having  received  information  that  divers 
persons  whose  religious  tenets  forbid  their  forming  them- 
selves into  military  associations  have  been  maltreated  by 
some  violent  and  ill  disposed  people  in  the  county  of  Lancas- 
ter not-withstanding  their  willingness  to  contribute  cheer- 
fully to  the  common  cause  otherwise  than  by  bearing  arms, 
etc. 

The  Committee  then  proceeds  to  discourage  such 
mob  spirit. 

In  still  another  sense  were  the  Mennonites,  es- 
pecially those  of  Southeastern  Pennsylvania,  brought 
face  to  face  with  the  realities  of  war.  Many  of  the 
campaigns  for  the  possession  of  Philadelphia  during 
the  year  1777  and  later  were  carried  on  within  the 
Mennonite  settlements.  The  little  stone  church  at 
Germantown  which  had  been  built  just  a  few  years 
before  occupied  the  very  center  of  the  battle-field 
in  the  battle  of  Germantown  and  it  was  from  behind 
the  stone  fence  which  surrounded  the  churchyard  that 
one  of  the  leading  British  generals  was  shot.  The 
famous  winter  quarters  of  1777-78  were  located  in 
the  Skippack  region  and  in  Chester  county  between 
Phoenixville   and   Valley   Forge.     A   number   of   the 


258  MENNONITES  OF  AMERICA 

Mennonites   in   this  region  were   impressed   into  the 
teaming  service  during  this  time. 

Lancaster  county  was  not  invaded  by  either  army 
during  these  campaigns,  but  the  commissary  depart- 
ment of  the  Continental  army  during  the 
Lancaster     later  years   of   the   war  cast  longing  eyes 
Raided  upon  the  fair  fields  and  well  fed  cattle  of 

the  rich  farmers  of  this  region.  Horses 
and  wagons  were  also  frequently  impressed  into  ser- 
vice for  hauling  provisions.  The  following  list  of 
articles  impressed  from  the  farmers  of  Manheim 
township  in  1780  shows  the  valuation  placed  upon 
horses  and  wagons  at  that  time  in  terms  of  continental 
money.'' 

Benjamin  Landis. .  Wagin,   cloth  feeding  trought,   lockchain, 

water  Bucket  and  Tar  Pat.  £1,080. 

Henry  Landis. .  Black  horse,  hind  geers  and  two  bags  £1,800 

Christian    Meyers..  1    Grey    horse,    hind    geers    and    2    bags, 

£1,300 

The  well  to  do  German  farmers  of  the  county, 
most  of  whom  were  Mennonites,  had  no  intention, 
liowever,  of  trading  their  stock  for  worthless  con- 
tinental scrip,  if  they  could  escape  it.  A  member  of  the 
Commissary  department  in  writing  to  President  Reed 
in  1780  regarding  the  difficulty  of  getting  cattle,  says, 

Ycur  excellency  will  please  observe  that  many  of  the 
wealthy  Mennonists  who  live  in  the  neighborhood  of  Lan- 
caster, Manheim  and  Conestoga  drive  Flocks  of  cattle  over 
the  mountains  in  the  Spring  season  to  the  great  distress  of 
the  poor  inhabitants.  These  men  have  them  undoubtedly  to 
spare,  otherwise  they  would  keep  them  on  their  farms  and' 
therefore  ought  to  be  taken  from  them.  But  this  cannot 
be  done  without  the  assistance  of  10  or  12  men  to  drive  them 


7.     Pa.  Arch.,  Sec.   Scr.,  III.  p.   376. 


N 

W 

o 

?o 
o 

X 


DURING  THE   REVOLUTION  259 

together  which  would  be  attended  with  extra  charges.  There- 
fore wait  your  Excellency's  particular  Instructions  in  the 
Premises®. 

As  we  have  already  seen,  the  majority  of  the 
Mennonites  during  the  Revolutionary  war,  although 
in  real  sympathy  with  the  cause  of  the  colon- 
Funk  ists,  yet  tried  to  maintain  a  strict  neutrality 
Schism  so  far  as  taking  active  part  in  the  controversy 
was  concerned.  Some,  however,  were  out  and 
out  in  sympathy  with  the  Crown  and  after  independ- 
ence had  been  won  a  number  of  them,  principally 
from  Bucks  and  Montgomery  counties,  emigrated  to 
Canada  where  they  might  still  enjoy  the  rule  of  the 
king.  Others  again,  were  as  eager  to  declare  their 
sympathy  for  the  American  cause.  Among  these  was 
Christian  Funk  of  Indian  creek  in  Montgomery  county 
who  in  bringing  this  question  to  an  issue  was  the 
author  of  the  first  division  in  the  Pennsylvania  church. 

The  trouble  began  in  1776  when  a  meeting  was 
held  in  Indianfield  township  (now  Franconia)  two- 
thirds  of  the  inhabitants  of  which  were  Mennonites, 
for  the  purpose  of  choosing  three  men  to  represent 
the  township  in  a  general  convention  which  was  to 
determine  whether  or  not  Pennsylvania  should  join 
the  other  colonies  in  the  war  and  whether  she  should 
acknowledge  her  independence  from  England.  Most 
of  the  Mennonites  who  were  present  took  the  position 
that  since  they  were  a  "defenseless  people  and  could 
neither  institute  nor  destroy  any  government,  they 
could  not  interfere  in  tearing  themselves  away  from 
the  King."  In  this  opinion  Funk  seems  at  the  time  to 
have  concurred.    But  when  during  the  following  year 


8.     P«.   Arch.    First   Series.   VIII.   p.   38. 


260  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

his  fellow  ministers  felt  that  their  nonresistant  prin- 
ciples obliged  them  to  refuse  to  pay  a  special  war  tax 
which  had  just  been  levied  he  disagreed  with  them. 
The  fact  that  the  prospects  of  American  success  at 
this  time  seemed  gloomy  may  have  had  something  to 
do  with  determining  the  attitude  of  the  majority,  for 
"the  Congress  and  American  Government,"  Funk  says, 
was  rejected  as  rebellious  and  the  King  acknowledged  by 
my  fellow  ministers  under  the  idea  that  Congress  would 
soon  be  overpowered.  I  now  began  to  say  that  we  ought 
not  denounce  the  American  government  as  rebellious. 
Funk  contended  that  the  tax  ought  to  be  paid  and 
said,  "Were  Christ  here  he  would  say  give  Congress 
that  which  belongs  to  Congress  and  to  God  what  is 
God's."  Andrew  Ziegler,  the  spokesman  for  the  op- 
posite party,  replied,  "I  would  as  soon  go  to  war  as 
pay  the  three  pounds  and  ten  shillings."^ 

This  was  the  beginning  of  a  difference  of  opinion 
which  soon  spread  among  the  churches  of  Montgomery 
county.  Funk  in  the  fall  of  1777  was  denied  the  right 
of  communion,  then  soon  after  the  right  to  preach  and 
finally  in  1778  he  was  excommunicated  because,  as 
he  says,  he  paid  the  "three  pounds  and  ten  shillings 
and  would  not  oppose  Congress."  He  organized  a 
small  band  of  his  followers  into  a  church  which  grad- 
ually built  up  small  congregations  at  Evansburg, 
Line  Lexington,  Towamencin  and  several  other  places. 
In  1805  and  again  in  1806  Funk  tried  to  heal  the 
breach  which  he  had  helped  to  make  in  1778,  but  he 
was  not  successful.  After  his  death,  his  son,  John, 
assumed  the  leadership  of  the  "Funkites,"  as  the  sect 
was  called.  The  organization  never  developed  much 
strength.     Meetings  were  held  in  the  scattered  con- 

9.     See  Christian   Funk's  Mirror  for  all  Mankind. 


DURING  THE  REVOLUTION  261 

gregations  for  some  time,  but  the  sect  began  to  de- 
cline and  by  1850  became  extinct.  One  of  the  chief 
causes  of  this  decline,  according  to  the  author  of  the 
Funk  Family  history,  was 

allowing  one  John  Herr,  a  heretic  from  Lancaster  county,  to 
preach  among  them  and  divide  them,  some  taking  sides  with 
John  Herr  in  his  peculiar  doctrines,  and  others  opposing 
which  caused  a  division  among  themselves  a  part  adhering 
to  the  Herrites  and  a  part  opposing.!"^ 

About  the  time  of  the  Funk  schism,  occurred  also 
the  apostasy  of  Martin  Boehm.  This  event,  while  in 
no  way  the  result  of  the  Revolutionary  war, 
Martin  yet  occurred  during  that  period  of  our  story 
Boehm  and  may  as  well,  be  told  here  as  elsewhere. 
Martin  Boehm  was  a  grandson  of  Jacob 
Boehm  who  came  to  Pennsylvania  in  1715  where  he 
soon  joined  the  Pequea  settlement  in  Lancaster  county. 
Martin  was  born  in  1725  and  when  he  entered  man- 
hood inherited  the  family  homestead,  one  mile  south 
of  Willow  Street.  In  1756  he  was  ordained  a  Men- 
nonite  minister  by  lot,  as  was  the  custom  at  that  time 
among  the  Mennonites.  Four  years  later  he  was 
chosen  in  the  same  manner  to  the  office  of  bishop. 
We  know  very  little  about  his  ministry  until  a  few 
years  later  when  he  visited  Virginia,  and  there  came 
into  contact  with  the  so-called  "New  Lights."  These 
New  Lights  were  a  by-product  of  the  great  religious 
revival  which  at  that  time  was  sweeping  through  the 
colonies.  As  a  result  of  this  revival  a  few  of  the 
churches  of  the  several  denominations  of  that  day 
were  divided  into  two  classes,  the  New  Lights,  as 
those  were  called  who  laid  great  stress  upon  inward 


IG.     A.  J.   Fretz.     Funk  Family  History,  p.   340. 


262  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

experience  and  outward  manifestation  of  the  Spirit  in 
religion,  and  the  Old  Lights,  or  those  opposed  to  the 
revival  and  its  methods.  It  was  this  wave  of  revival 
excitement  which  caught  up  this  man,  who  had  begun 
to  preach,  as  he  said,  not  because  of  inward  conviction, 
but  because  he  was  formally  chosen  by  lot.  This 
must  have  taken  place  in  1761,  for  his  son  Henry,  a 
well  known  pioneer  Methodist  preacher  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, says  in  his  Reminiscences  that  in  that  year  he 
(Martin)  "found  redemption  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb 
and  became  a  flame  of  fire  and  preached  with  the 
Holy  Ghost  sent  down  from  Heaven.  His  success 
was  wonderful  and  the  seals  of  his  ministry  were 
numerous. "^^  From  this  time  on  no  doubt  the  re- 
lations between  Boehm  and  his  fellow  ministers  be- 
came strained,  although  we  do  not  find  that  any  defin- 
ite action  was  taken  against  him  until  about  1775. 

From  an  old  manuscript  written  during  the  Rev- 
olutionary war  and  quoted  by  John  F.  Funk  in  his 
Mennonite  Church  and  her  Accusers  we  learn  that 
after  repeated  efiforts  to  reconcile  Boehm  with  his 
congregation,  the  church  finally  expelled  him  on  the 
following  charges,^" 

1.  Because  he  had  too  much  intercourse  and  fellowship 
with  professors  who  admit  and  allow  war,  and  the  swearing 
of  oaths. 

2.  In  this  that  he  says  that  Satan  is  a  benefit  to  man- 
kind. 

3.  He  said  the  Scriptures  might  be  burned.  The  word 
is  a  dead  letter. 

4.  He  said  that  Faith  cometh  from  unbelief,  life  out 
of  death,  and  light  out  of  darkness. 


11.  See   Henry   Boehm.      Reminiscences  of   Rev.    Henry   Boehm. 

12.  John   F.   Funk.     The   Mennonite   Church  and  her  Accusers,  p.   41. 


Bs^n^^ 


-\     -+    — t--     ^    <D 

">  rt  q  3,0  3  ro 


3  rt>  „  :z.  5.  ^r 

trq  rt-  C-  rD  o  3 


DURING  THE   REVOLUTION  263 

5.  He  said  that  the  old  men  (bishops  and  ministers) 
lay  so  much  stress  upon  the  ordinances,  viz.,  baptism  and 
communion,  and  the  people  are  thereby  led  to  the  Devil  and 
not  to  God. 

In  the  meantime  the  Methodists  had  just  entered 
Pennsylvania,  and  began  their  preaching  in  Lancaster 
county.  Boehm  soon  became  attracted  to  them  by 
their  fervent  appeals.  In  1775  a  Methodist  "class"  was 
organized  in  his  home  and  his  wife  became  one  of  the 
charter  members.  During  the  years  immediately  fol- 
lowing, his  house  was  frequently  used  as  a  stopping 
place  for  pioneer  Methodist  preachers,  and  he  himself 
frequently  preached  with  them.  In  1791  he  built  a 
small  chapel  on  his  farm  in  which  services  were  held. 
"This  building,  which  is  still  standing,  is  considered 
by  the  Methodists  as  their  first  meeting  house  in 
Lancaster  county,  and  one  of  the  very  earliest  in  the 
state.  Although  working  with  the  Methodists,  yet 
Boehm  did  not  wholly  identify  himself  with  their 
organization.  He  was  rather  for  a  time  an  indepcnd- 
•ent  preacher,  laboring  with  any  church  which  he 
found  congenial. 

A  little  later  he  became,  in  connection  with  Otter- 
tein,  a  minister  of  the  Reformed  church,  the  founder 
of  the  United  Brethren  organization.  The  story  of 
the  beginning  of  this  church  is  told  briefly  by  Henry 
Boehm  as  follows : 

Mr  Otterbein's  church  was  built  on  Howard's  hill.  My 
father  and  he  met  at  Isaac  Long's  a  few  miles  from  Lancas- 
ter. Various  denominations  had  been  invited  to  meet  there 
and  my  father  preached  the  first  sermon  which  was  attended 
with  peculiar  unction  and  when  he  had  finished,  Mr.  Otter- 
bein  arose  and  encircled  him  in  his  arms  and  exclaimed, 
■"We   are   brethren."     Shout   after   shout   went   up   and   tears 


264  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

■flowed  freely  from  many  eyes,  the  scene  was  so  pentecostal. 
Such  was  the  origin  of  the  United  Brethren  church. 

In  1800  Boehm  and  Otterbein  were  both  elected 
as  the  first  bishops  of  an  organization  which  grew 
up  soon  after  the  above  mentioned  episode.  Boehm 
was  re-elected  in  1805.  But  in  the  meantime  he  had 
his  name  also  enrolled  in  the  Methodist  class  book. 
It  is  difficult  to  say  just  what  his  church  connections 
were  during  this  time.  His  own  son  says  that  in  his 
later  years  he  was  a  Methodist.  He  died  in  1812  and 
lies  buried  near  the  little  chapel  which  he  built  in  1791. 
The  epitaph  on  the  stone  which  marks  his  final  resting 
place  fittingly  describes  his  checkered  religious  ca- 
reer. 

Here  lie  the  remains  of  Rev.  ISIartin  Boehm  who  de- 
parted this  life  (after  a  short  illness)  March  23,  1812,  in  the 
«7th  year  of  his  age.  Fifty  four  years  he  freely  preached  the 
Gospel  to  thousands  and  labored  in  the  Vineyard  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  in  Pennsylvania,  Maryland  and  Virginia  among  many 
denominations  but  particularly  the  Mennonites,  United 
Brethren  and  Methodists  with  the  last  of  whom  he  lived  and 
died  in  fellowship.  He  not  only  gave  himself  and  his  ser- 
vices to  the  church  but  also  fed  the  Lord's  prophets  and 
people  by  multitudes.  He  was  an  Israelite  in  whom  was  no 
gnile.     His  end  was  peace. 


CHAPTER  X 


THE  MENNONITES  OF  ONTARIO^ 

As  we  have  already  seen,  the  attitude  of  the  ma- 
jority of  the   Mennonites   toward   the   Revolutionary 
war  was  one  of  neutrahty.     Some, 
Emigration  from  however,   and   especially   those   of 

Pennsylvania  after       western    Bucks    and    Montgomery 
The  Revolution  counties,    while    apparently    neu- 

tral, yet  at  heart  favored  the  cause 
of  the  king.  The  period  of  anarchy  which  followed 
the  close  of  the  war  from  the  signing  of  the  treaty 
•of  peace  to  the  formation  of  the  constitution  naturally 
did  not  lessen  the  distrust  of  these  loyalists,  of  the 
new  government. 

At  the  same  time  some  of  the  younger  and  poorer 
people  of  Lancaster,  Bucks,  Montgomery  and  other 
of  the  older  counties  in  Pennsylvania  were  looking  for 
cheaper  lands  in  newer  regions,  since  the  land  in  the 
southeastern  part  of  the  state  had  already  all  been 
taken  up.  Even  before  and  during  the  war  colonies 
had  emigrated  to  Maryland,  Virginia  and  across  the 


1.  For  the  facts  of  this  chapter  the  author  is  indebted  largely  to  the 
work  of  Ezra  E.  Eby.  A  Biographical  History  of  Waterloo 
Township.      (1895) 


266  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

Allegii^iiies  into  the  valleys  of  the  Juniata  and  Yough- 
iogheny.  Colonization  societies  were  being  formed  for 
the  purpose  of  helping  the  poorer  members  of  the  older 
communities  to  find  homes. 

Why  not  go  to  Canada?  Here  the  home  seeker 
might  find  large  tracts  of  cheap  uncultivated  land  not 

far  from  the  American  line,  and  the 
Lincoln  County  loyalist,  an  opportunity  to  serve  the 
Colony  1786  king.     Among  the  first  to  turn  their 

eyes  in  this  direction  were  a  small 
group  of  men  from  the  region  of  Plumstead,  Bucks 
county.  As  early  as  1786-  John,  Dilman,  Jacob  and 
StofiFel  Kulp,  Franklin  Albright  and  Frederick 
Hahn  left  this  community  for  the  Canadian 
"border.  Following  up  the  Susquehanna  through 
Penns3dvania  and  then  through  New  York  they 
crossed  the  Niagara  River  and  located  in  Lin- 
coin  county,  about  twenty  miles  from  Niagara 
Falls.  In  1799  there  were  added  to  the  colony  Jacob 
Moyer,  Amos  Allbright,  Valentine  Kratz,  Dilman 
Moyer,  John  Hunsberger,  Geo.  Althouse,  Abraham 
Hunsberger  and  Moses  Fretz ;  and  in  1800  John 
Fretz,  Daniel  High,  John  Wismer  and  a  number  of 
others.  Later  several  small  scattered  settlements 
were  made  to  the  south  in  Wellington,  Welland  and 
Haldimand  counties. 

This  settlement  thus  far  was  without  a  minister. 
In  1801  one  of  the  members  wrote  to  the  church  in 
Bucks  county,  asking  that  the  parent  church  send  a 
bishop  to  help  them  ordain  a  minister.  The  Bucks 
county  church  advised  them  to  select  one  of  their  own 
number   to    serve    them.        In    accordance    with    this 


2.     W.    H.    H.    Davis,    History   of   Bucks   County. 


THE  MENNONITES   OF  ONTARIO  267 

advice  Valentine  Kratz  became  the  first  minister  of 
the  settlement  in  1801 ;  and  Jacob  Moyer  in  1807  was 
elected  as  the  first  bishop. 

In  the  meantime  another  colony  had  been  estab- 
lished farther  out  on  the  frontier.  In  1799  Joseph 
Schoerg  and  Samuel  Betzner  from  Franklin 
Waterloo  county  crossed  Pennsylvania  and  New  York 
County  for  the  region  beyond  the  lakes.  After  spend- 
ing the  v^inter  on  the  Canadian  side  near 
Niagara,  the  next  spring  they  started  out  on  a  tour 
of  investigation,  and  finally  selected  the  fertile  and 
heavy  timbered  regions  along  the  Grand  river  in  vi^hat 
is  now  Waterloo  county  as  their  future  home.  This 
part  of  the  country  was  as  yet  still  unsettled,  except 
by  a  few  fur  traders  who  had  erected  temporary 
quarters  along  the  banks  of  the  river.  Returning  to 
Niagara,  these  two  pioneers  the  next  year  took  their 
families  to  the  new  country  and  located  about  thirty 
miles  beyond  Dundas,  Waterloo  county,  which  then 
marked  the  line  of  settlements.  Schoerg  bought  a 
tract  of  land  on  the  east  side  of  the  Grand  river 
directly  opposite  the  present  village  of  Doon,  and 
Betzner,  on  the  west  side  near  the  present  village  of 
Blair. 

Later  in  the  spring  of  the  same  year  several 
families  from  Lancaster  county  came  with  teams^ 
wagons,  and  household  goods,  and  located  in  the  same 
neighborhood.  This  second  party  was  composed  of 
Samuel  Betzner,  Sr.,  John  Reichert  and  Christian 
Reichert. 

These  early  settlers,  although  they  had  to  endure 
all  the  hardships  incident  to  pioneer  life,  yet  were  well 
pleased  with  their  new  homes  and  wrote  encouraging 


268  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

accounts  of  the  possibilities  of  the  new  country  to- 
their  relatives  and  friends  in  Pennsylvania.  As  a  re- 
sult several  families  from  Lancaster  and  Montgomery 
counties  decided  to  emigrate  to  Canada  the  following^ 
year. 

The  first  party  to  arrive  in  the  spring  of  1801  was 
composed  of  David  Gingerich  and  family,  and  his 
father  Abraham,  from  Lancaster  county.  These  were 
followed  a  little  later  by  a  small  company  of  seven 
families  and  several  unmarried  men  from  Montgomery 
county,  composed  of  George,  Abraham  and  Jacob 
Bechtel,  Dilman  Kinsey,  Fenjamin  Rosenberger,  John 
Biehn,  Sr.,  John  Biehn  and  several  others.  During  the 
same  year  also  came  Michael  Bear  from  York  county.. 
By  the  fall  of  1801  there  were  twelve  families  in  the 
new  colony,  all  of  whom  located  in  the  southern  end 
of  Waterloo  township  near  the  Grand  river.  During 
the  following  year,  in  1802,  the  colony  was  increased' 
by  new  settlers  from  Cumberland,  Montgomery  and 
other  counties  in  Pennsylvania. 

These  early  settlers  had  to  endure  many  hard- 
ships. The  journey  from  the  Pennsylvania  settle- 
ments to  Waterloo  covered  about  five  hundred  miles 
and  had  to  be  made  over  mountains,. 
Through  Swamp  through  forests  and  almost  impass- 
and  Forest  able  swamps.     Some  went  on  horse- 

back, but  most  of  them  loaded  their 
household  goods  upon  the  well  known  Conestoga 
wagons  to  which  were  hitched  four  or  five  horses. 
The  earliest  pioneers  frequently  took  their  cattle  with 
them  and  thus  were  often  supplied  with  milk  on  their 
way.  The  road,  usually  followed,  led  across  the  Alle- 
gheny mountains,  thence  up  the  Susquehanna  through 


THE  MENNONITES  OF  ONTARIO  !(& 

New  York  and  struck  the  Niagara  a  little  below 
Buffalo.  From  here  the  journey  was  made  to  Duudas 
by  the  way  of  what  is  now  Hamilton,  and  from  there 
through  the  almost  impassable  "Beverly  Swamp"  to 
the  new  settlement  along  the  Grand.  The  time  oc- 
cupied in  the  entire  journey  was  usually  from  four  to 
eight  weeks. 

This  region  was  all  heavily  wooded  and  the  first 
few  years  were  occupied  largely  by  the  settlers  in  mak- 
ing small  clearings  from  which  they  might  extract  a 
scanty  living,  and  in  erecting  their  first  log  cabins. 

The  land  thus  far  had  all  been  purchased  from  one 
Richard   Beasley  who  owned  the  greater  portion  of 
Waterloo   township.       The   purchasing" 
The  Beasley       price   ranged   from  one   to  four  dollars 
Fraud  per  acre.   In  1803  it  was  accidentally  dis- 

covered that  the  land  owned  by  Beasley 
was  under  a  heavy  mortgage,  amounting  to  twenty 
thousand  dollars.  Those  who  had  already  bought 
tracts  became  alarmed  and  feared  lest  their  titles 
might  prove  defective.  Others  refused  to  buy,  and 
immigration  to  the  colony  ceased  for  the  year.  Beas- 
ley now  suggested  to  the  settlers  that  they  buy  the 
entire  township  and  assume  the  mortgage.  The  set- 
tlers accordingly  in  1804  met  and  sent  Samuel  Bricker 
and  Joseph  Shoerg  to  Franklin  and  Cumberland  coun- 
ties for  the  purpose  of  raising  the  required  am.ount 
among  their  relatives  and  friends.  They  were  not 
successful  here  and  Bricker  returned  to  Canada.  But 
Shoerg  proceeded  to  Lancaster  county  in  the  hope  that 
he  might  enlist  the  sympathy  of  the  Lancastrians  in 
the  enterprise.  Here  too  his  efforts  would  have  come 
to  naught  had  it  not  been  for  old  Hans  Eby,  who  ad- 


270  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

vised  his  brethren  at  a  meting  which  had  been  called 
to  consider  this  question,  not  to  regard  the   matter 

from  the  standpoint  of  a  profitable  in- 
Hans  Eby's  vestment,  but  as  an  opportunity  of  help- 
Advice  ing  their  brethren  in  distress.    His  advice 

prevailed  and  soon  a  stock  company  was 
organized  for  the  purpose  of  buying  the  entire  town- 
ship. Samuel  Bricker  was  appointed  as  the  agent  for 
the  newly  organized  company,  and  Daniel  Erb  as  his 
assistant.  These  men  then  finally  were  given  twenty 
thousand  dollars,  all  in  silver,  which  it  is  said  was 
placed  in  a  large  box  and  carried  in  a  light  wagon  to- 
Canada,  where  finally  it  was  turned  over  to  Beasley, 
while  the  company  in  return  received  a  clear  title  to 
60,000  acres  of  land  in  what  is  now  Waterloo  county. 
A  draft  of  the  township  of  Waterloo  was  then  made 
and  a  copy  sent  to  the  stockholders  in  Lancaster.  The 
entire  tract  was  then  divided  into  lots  of  448  acres 
each,  and  each  stockholder  drew  by  lot  his  share  of 
the  entire  tract  according  to  the  amount  of  stock 
which  he  held. 

In  the  meantime,  while  these  events  were  taking 
place  in  Waterloo,  the  tide  of  immigration  had  been 
turned  in  another  direction.  In  the  same  year  in 
which  the  Beasley  fraud  was  detected,  1803,  a  new 
settlement  had  been  made  in  York  county,  near  Mark- 
ham,  about  twenty  miles  north  of  Toronto.  ■  Among 
the  first  settlers  here  as  well  as  one  of  the  earliest 
ministers  was  Henry  Weidman.  The  community  now 
consists  of  four  small  congregations.  Soon  after  this- 
a  stock  company  was  also  formed  in  Pennsylvania  for 
buying  land  in  Woolwich  township,  just  north  of 
Waterloo.  Forty-five  thousand  acres  were  purchased 
in  1807. 


r 


n 

X 

a 
n 

o 

S 
o 


11 


/ 


Jj. 


THE  MENNONITES   OF   ONTARIO  271 

After  1804  Waterloo  township  again  received  the 
largest  share  of  Pennsylvanians.  Each  year  brought  a 
few  new  colonists  from  Lancaster,  Berks,  Bucks, 
Montgomery,  Franklin  and  Cumberland  counties. 
Some  years  brought  more  than  others.  During  the 
war  of  1812  immigration  was  light,  but  it  was  heavy 
in  the  years  1825  to  1829,  owing  to  rather  hard  times 
in  Pennsylvania  during  those  years.  By  1835  Penn- 
sylvania immigration  had  practically  ceased,  although 
a  few  individuals  continued  to  come  as  late  as  the 
American  Civil  war.  The  Canadian  settlements  also 
received  a  part  of  the  European  wave  of  immigration 
during  the  second  decade  of  the  century.  The  col- 
onists of  Waterloo  located  as  we  have  seen  on  both 
sides  of  the  Grand  river  near  Doon  and  Preston. 
Later,  settlements  were  made  to  the  north  until  all  of 
Waterloo  township  was  occupied  by  the  Mennonites 
and  finally  the  community  extended  over  Woolwich 
and  surrounding  townships.  Berlin,  the  principal 
town  in  this  region,  was  once  called  Ebytown  and  in 
1827  it  was  given  its  present  name  upon  the  suggestion 
of  Bishop  Benjamin  Eby.  Among  the  most  common 
names  to  be  found  among  the  descendants  of  these 
early  pioneers  to  Canada  are  Bauman,  Bechtel,  Bergey, 
Betzner,  Brubacher,  Burkholder,  Cressman,  Detweiler, 
Eby,  Erb,  Gehman,  Gingrich,  Reist,  Sherk,  Staufifer, 
Grofif,  Hagey,  Hallman,  Kolb,  Horst,  Honsberger, 
Hoffman,  Martin,  Moyer,  Musselman,  Reichert, 
W^eber,  Schneider,  Shoemaker,  Shantz,  Witmer,  and 
others. 

During  the  war  of  1812  communication  between 
the  Canadians  and  their  Pennsylvania  brethren  of 
course  was  broken  off,  and  there  was  no  immigration 
for  a  few  years.     The  Mennonites  were  not  forced  to 


272  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

serve  in  the  army,  but  a  number  of  them  were  im- 
pressed with  their  teams  into  the  trans- 
War  of  1812  portation  service.  None  lost  their  lives 
while  engaged  in  the  service,  but  in  the 
battles  fought  around  the  Niagara  peninsula  and  in  the 
vicinity  of  Detroit  several  of  them  lost  their  teams  and 
wagons.  After  the  war  the  British  government  made 
good  these  losses  and  paid  them  for  actual  service. 
Christian  Schneider,  Jr.,  was  paid  $5.00  per  day  for 
the  time  he  served  with  a  two  horse  team,  and  $8.00 
for  service  with  a  four  horse  team. 

We  have  already  seen  that  at  "The  Twenty" 
Valentine  Kratz  was  ordained  to  the  ministry  in  1801. 

When  the  settlers  of  Waterloo  first 
First  Minister       organized    for    religious    purposes    we 

do  not  know,  but  no  doubt  very  soon 
after  their  arrival.  In  1806  Benjamin  Eby  came  to 
the  settlement.  Three  years  later  he  was  ordained  to 
the  ministry  and  in  1812  to  the  office  of  bishop.  From 
this  time  till  his  death  in  1853  he  exerted  a  strong  in- 
fluence over  the  Canadian  church.  In  1813  the  first 
Mennonite  church  building,  made  of  logs,  was  erected 
on  his  farm  and  was  known  as  the  Eby  church.  Here 
bishop  Eby  preached  and  also  taught  school  during 
the  winter  months  for  many  years.  He  was  a  man  of 
more  than  ordinary  talent,  and  wrote  several  books 
the  most  important  of  which  is  a  short  history  of  the 
Mennonites. 

The  first  conference  of  the  Canadian  church  was 
held  about  1820.  By  this  time  there  were,  as  we  have 
seen,  three  Mennonite  communities  in  Ontario  each  of 
which  became  a  conference  district — Waterloo,  Lin- 
coln and  York  county. 


THE   MENNONiTES   OF   ONTARIO  273 

The  Mennonites  of  Canada  like  their  brethren  in 
the  States  did  not  escape  internal  dissensions.    About 

the  middle  of  the  last  century  there  be- 
Internal  gan   a    movement   in    Lincoln   county   in 

Dissensions      favor   of   more   aggressive   church   work. 

The  leader  of  the  movement  was  Daniel 
Hoch,  a  minister,  who  advocated  more  modern  meth- 
ods of  church  work  and  especially  greater  evangelistic 
activity.  The  result  of  this  agitation  was  a  division  of 
the  church.  Hoch  soon  affiliated  himself  with  Ober- 
holtzer  in  Franconia,  who,  as  we  shall  see  elsewhere, 
led  a  similar  movement  in  Pennsylvania.  Hoch 
warmly  seconded  the  efforts  of  Oberholtzer  in 
1860  for  the  establishing  of  a  general  conference  of 
a  number  of  liberal  independent  congregations  in 
America  and  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  that  move- 
ment. His  followers  in  Canada  never  developed  much 
strength  and  in  1875  affiliated  themselves  with  the 
"New  Mennonites." 

The  New  Mennonites,  under  the  leadership  of 
Solomon  Eby  and  others,  founded  another  schism 
which  soon  united  with  the  Reformed  Mennonites  of 
Indiana. 

The  Martinites  or  "Woolwich  people",  as  they  are 
spoken  of  locally,  include  a  number  of  members  of  the 
Woolwich  township  church  who  in  the  early  seventies 
sympathized  with  Jacob  Wisler  of  Indiana  in  his  stand 
for  conservative  ideas.  In  the  eighties  these  formally 
withdrew  from  the  church  and  now  form  an  inde- 
pendent body,  although  they  associate  in  religious 
work  with  the  Wisler  Mennonites  of  Indiana. 

The  general  awakening  of  the  Mennonite  church 


274  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

throughout  the  United  States  in  recent  years  of  which 
mention    is    made    elsewhere,    also 
Coffman's  Work      manifested  itself  in  Canada.    In  1890 
in  Ontario  the    first    Mennonite    Sunday    school 

conference  in  America  was  held  in 
Canada.  This  was  soon  followed  by  the  evangelistic 
work  of  John  S.  Coffman.  Here  Cofifman  did  some 
of  the  best  work  in  his  entire  evangelistic  career. 
Immense  crowds  were  drawn  to  the  meeting  houses 
to  hear  him  preach.  Large  numbers  of  young  people 
were  converted  and  brought  into  the  church,  and  the 
churches  everywhere  revived.  From  this  time  on  the 
Canadian  Mennonites  have  made  steady  progress  both 
spiritually  and  numerically.  There  are  at  present 
about  thirty  congregations  in  the  three  districts  in 
Ontario,  most  of  which  are  in  Waterloo  county,  with 
a  total  membership  of  about  fifteen  hundred. 


CHAPTER  XI 

f 
THE  MENNONITES  DURING  THE  NINE- 
TEENTH   CENTURY 
1. 

Settlements  in  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois  and  the  Western 

States 

In  the  settling  of  the  North  West  Territory  the 
Pennsylvania  Germans  were  not  far  behind  the  New 
Englanders,  who  established  the  first 
Pioneers  in  the  colony  in  Ohio  in  1788.  Just  ten 
Hocking  Valley  years  after  Marietta  was  founded  a 
small  group  of  Germans  from  Lan- 
caster county,  Pennsylvania,  on  a  prospecting  tour, 
floated  down  the  Ohio,  past  the  village  of  New  Eng- 
landers to  the  Hocking  river,  then  up  that  stream  as 
far  as  what  is  now  Fairfield  county.  Here  a  few  years 
later  was  founded  a  little  village  called  Lancaster  in 
"honor  of  the  county  from  which  these  early  settlers 
came.  In  this  group  there  was  at  least  one  Mennonite, 
Martin  Landis,  who  having  returned  to  Pennsylvania, 


276  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

came  back  again  the  following  year,  1799,  and  located 
two  miles  south  of  the  town  of  Lancaster.^ 

Landis  built  a  church  on  his  land  which  was  to 
be  used,  however,  by  all  denominations.  No  Menno- 
nite  congregation  was  organized  until  several  years 
later  when  a  number  of  Mennonites  came  to  this 
region  from  Virginia  and  Fayette  county,  Pennsyl- 
vania. Among  these  were  Henry  Stemen,-  who 
located  near  the  present  town  of  Bremen  in  1803.  He 
was  followed  by  families  bearing  the  names  Good, 
Brenneman,  Beery,  Lechrone,  Gulp  and  Steiner.  In 
1809  Stemen  became  the  first  resident  minister  of  the 
congregation  which  must  have  been  organized  some 
time  before  this,  and  in  1820  he  became  one  of  the 
pioneer  Mennonite  bishops  of  Ohio.  For  over  thirty 
years  he  performed  the  duties  of  his  office — visiting 
his  scattered  congregations  in  various  parts  of  central 
Ohio,  and  was  finally  succeeded  by  J.  M.  Brenneman. 
The  second  settlement  in  the  state  was  made  in 
1811  in  what  is  now  Stark  county,^  on  the  left  bank  of 

the  Tuscarawas  creek,  near  the  present 
Stark  County       city  of  Ganton.     The   first   settlers   in 

the  community,  the  Lehmans,  Rohrers, 
McLaughlins,  Oberlys,  Shefifards  and  others  came  from 
Lancaster  county,  Pennsylvania,  and  Rockingham 
■county,  Virginia.  The  first  log  church  house  was  built 
in  1823.  This  was  replaced  by  a  larger  building  in 
1874,  but  the  congregation  is  now  almost  extinct. 


1.  Sec   A.   A.   Graham.     History   of   Fairfield   and   Perry   Counties. 

2.  See    C.    B.    Stemen.      History   of   the   Stemen    Family. 

Z.  For  much  of  the  information  regarding  the  church  in  Ohio  I  am 
indebted  to  manuscript  sketches  compiled  by  various  local  authori- 
ties for  M.  S.  Steiner,  of  Columbus  Grove,  Ohio,  and  kindly  loaned 
by   him  to   me. 


MENNONITES— NINETEENTH  CENTURY      277 

Soon  after  this,  another  colony  was  established 
along-  the  borders  of  Mahoning-  and  Columbiana  coun- 
ties.    In    1815   Jacob    Oberholtzer,   a   preacher   from 
Bucks     county,     Pennsylvania, 
Mahoning  and  located    on   a    farm    in    Beaver 

Columbiana  Counties  township.  He  was  followed 
during  the  years  immediately 
succeeding  by  the  ancestors  of  the  present  Blossers 
from  Virginia,  Metzlers  from  Lancaster  county,  Leh- 
mans  from  Franklin  county,  Detweilers  from  Mont- 
gomery county,  Yoders  from  Bucks  and  Lehigh  coun- 
ties, and  others  from  Southeastern  Pennsylvania.  All 
of  these  settled  in  the  southeastern  part  of  Mahoning 
county  and  near  Leetonia  in  Columbiana  county.  In 
1817  Bishop  Jacob  Nold  from  Bucks  county,  Pennsyl- 
vania, located  near  Leetonia  and  became  the  first 
Mennonite  bishop  in  the  state,  and  later  organized 
congregations  in  Georgetown,  Canton,  Orrville  and 
Wadsworth,  In  1825  a  meeting  house  was  erected  in 
the  northern  part  of  the  settlement  and  in  1828  another 
in  the  southern.  The  community  how  comprises 
several  congregations  with  an  aggregate  membership 
of  about  three  hundred  and  is  the  largest  Mennonite 
settlement  in  the  state. 

In  the  meantime  a  number  of  Mennonites  from 
Switzerland  had  immigrated  to  Ohio.  As  we  have 
already  seen,  the  martial  spirit  engen- 
The  Swiss  dered  by  the  Napoleonic  wars  in  South- 
Immigrants  western  Europe  during  the  early  part  of 
the  nineteenth  century  drove  many  Men- 
nonites and  Amish  from  Switzerland  and  Southeastern 
France,  and  Germany,  to  seek  homes  in  America, 
which  at  this  time  appealed  especially  to  the  Europeans 


278  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

as  the  land  of  opportunity  for  the  oppressed.  This 
immigration  began  about  1817  and  continued  until  the 
early  fifties.  The  Amish,  as  we  saw  elsewhere,  began  to 
arrive  about  1820  and  located  principally  in  Butler  and 
Fulton  counties,  Ohio,  Canada,  Lewis  county,  New 
York,  Illinois,  and  Southeastern  Iowa.  The  Menno- 
nites  settled  in  Ohio,  Indiana,  St.  Clair  county,  Illinois, 
and  Southeastern  Iowa. 

The    Mennonites   from    the   canton   of   Berne    in 
Switzerland  led  this  stream  of  immigrants.*     In  1817 
Benedict  Schrag  left  for  America,  and  arriving  in  Ohio 
mot  long  after,  located  on  a  farm  near  Orrville,  Wayne 
•county.     He  wrote  to  his  friends  in  Switzerland,  urg- 
ing them  to  cast  their  lot  with  him.     In  1819  he  per- 
•suaded   Isaac   Sommer,   David    Kirchofer,   Peter   and 
^Irich  Lehman  to  join  him.    These  men  left  Berne  in 
April  and  took  ship  for  New  York  at  Havre.    After  a 
-voyage  of  forty-seven  days  they  landed  at  New  York 
^rom  whence  they  came  to  Wayne  county  on  foot  by 
■way  of  Philadelphia,  Lancaster,  Pittsburg  and  Canton. 
They  all  purchased  land  in  the  eastern  part  of  the 
county  in  the  very  center  of  what  later  was  called  the 
Sonnenberg  congregation.    In  1821  seven  families  with 
several  single  men  were  influenced  to  join  the  new 
colony.       These     were     followed     by     other     small 
parties  in   1822,   1824  and   1825.     Between   1825   and 
1835  the  immigrants  came  in  large  numbers.'    It  soon 


For  a  more  detailed  sketch  of  the  Swiss  settlement  in  Ohio  see  article 
by  D.  A.  Schneck  in  Gospel  Witness,  Scottdale,  Pa.,  for  Jan.  1, 
1908.     See  also  History  of  Allen  County  by  R.   H.   Harnson,   Phila. 

Among  the  Swiss  immigrants  to  this  locality  from  1821  to  1825  were 
Bishop  John  Lehman,  Abraham  Zuercher,  Jacob  Bixler,  Peter  Hof- 
stetler,  Jacob  Moser,  John,  Christian  and  Abraham  Lehman,  David 
and  Samuel  Zuercher,  Ulrich,  Jacob  and  Michael  Gerber,  Christian 
Recr,    Peter   and   John   Welty,    John    and    Abraham   Tschantz,    John 


MENNONITES— NINETEENTH  CENTURY       279 

became  necessary  to  found  new  settlements.  In  1833 
Michael  Neuenschwander,  who  had  located  in  Wayne 
county  in  1823,  moved  to  Putnam  county.*  He  was 
soon  followed  by  others  from  Wayne  and  Holmes 
counties,  and  new  arrivals  from  Switzerland.  Here 
was  organized  what  has  since  become  a  large  and 
prosperous  congregation,  near  Bluffton.  About  the 
same  time  also  others  moved  to  Adams  county,  Indi- 
ana, where  there  has  since  developed  a  large  congrega- 
tion. Some  of  these  settlements  have  grown  into  large 
communities.  The  original  Sonnenberg  congregation 
has  a  membership  of  about  four  hundred,  the  Bluflf- 
ton,  about  seven  hundred,  while  the  congregation  at 
Berne,  Indiana,  numbers  about  seven  hundred  and 
fifty. 

The  Swiss  Mennonites  did  not  affiliate  themselves 
with  the  main  body  of  the  American  church.  They 
brought  with  them  from  Switzerland,  and  maintained 
after  their  arrival,  new  customs,  new  forms  of  dress, 
and  a  strange  dialect,  all  of  which  tended  to  separate 
them  in  religious  worship  from  the  Old  Mennonites. 
The  congregations  at  Bluffton  and  Berne,  together 
with  a  part  of  the  Sonnenberg  church  have  within  re- 
cent years  affiliated  themselves  with  the  General  Con- 
ference Mennonites. 

In    1825   a   number   of   Mennonites   from   South- 


and  Christian  Wahley,  Christian  and  Abraham  Gilliom,  Abraham 
Falb,  Nicholas  Hofstetler,  Michael  Boegly,  John  Lugibihl,  David 
Baumgartner,  Ulr'ich  Sommer,  Peter  Schneck,  David  Althaus,  UI- 
rich  and  Peter  Moser,  Bishop  Daniel  Steiner,  Ulrich  and  Christian 
Steiner. — D.   A.    Schneck,    in   Gospel   Witness,   Jan.    1,    1898. 

See  Mennonite  Year   Book  and  Almanac    (Eastern   Mennonite   Confer- 
ence).     1907. 


280  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

eastern  Pennsylvania,  bearing-  the  names  Overholt, 
Geisinger,  Weidman,  Leatherman, 
Pennsylvanians  in  Rohrer,  Hoover  and  Tintsman 
Medina  County  established      a      community      near 

Wadsworth,  in  Medina  county. 
This  community  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  it  has  been 
the  battle  ground  of  three  church  controversies  during 
the  last  half  century  has  since  developed  into  several 
good-sized  congregations. 

In  1834  another  settlement  was  made  by  Penn- 
sylvanians, just  south  of  the  Medina  county  com- 
munity, near  Orrville  in  Wayne  county.  The  first 
settlers  were  John  Rohrer  and  Jacob  Buchwalter,  fol- 
lowed soon  after  by  families  bearing  the  names  Horst, 
Brenneman  and  others. 

During  the  next  thirty  years  numerous  attempts 
were  made  to  establish  congregations  in  the  north- 
western part  of  the  state — in 
I^ater  Settlements  in  Wood,  Seneca,  Williams,  Ash- 
Northwestern  Ohio  land,  Clark,  Franklin,  Hancock, 
Allen  and  Putnam  counties. 
With  the  exception  of  the  last  three,  however, 
the  congregations  in  this  region  never  made 
much  progress.  The  largest  and  most  prosperous 
community  in  this  part  of  the  state  is  now  near  Elida, 
in  Allen  county.  John  Thut  who  came  here  in  1849 
was  for  many  years  a  prominent  Mennonite  bishop  in 
the  state. 

During  all  this  time  of  early  settlement  numerous 
Amish  communities  were  also  being  established  within 
the  state,  but  their  story  is  told  elsewhere. 

The  history  of  the  church  in  Ohio  differs  very 
little  from  that  of  the  same  body  in  other  states.     Be- 


MENNONITES— NINETEENTH  CENTURY       281 

ing  among  the  earliest  settlers  in  the  state,  the  Menno- 
nites  experienced  all  the  hardships  of  pioneer  life. 
Their  communities  were  small  and  scattered,  and  per- 
haps for  this  reason  they  were  a  little  less  conservative 
and  more  open  to  outside  influences  than  the  larger 
and  older  settlements  from  which  they  came  in  Penn- 
sylvania. Within  recent  years  especially,  the  Ohio 
conference  has  occupied  a  position  well  to  the  front  in 
all  educational,  missionary  and  other  progressive 
movements  of  the  church  at  large. 

New  York. 

In  the  meantime  several  small  settlements  had 
been  made  in  Northwestern  New  YorkJ  It  is  said  that 
one  Johannes  Roth  from  Lancaster  county  located  near 
what  is  now  Williamsville,  in  the  northwestern  part 
of  Erie  county,  before  the  Revolutionary  war.  It  does 
not  seem,  however,  that  he  was  immediately  followed 
by  others.  But  by  1824  families  by  the  name  of  Leib, 
Lehman,  Martin,  Frick  and  others  had  settled  near  by. 
John  Lapp  became  the  first  minister.  Several  other 
families  came  later,  including  Jacob  Krehbiel,  who 
arrived  from  Weyerhof  in  Rheinpfalz  in   1831. 

A  little  earlier,  in  1810  and  1811,  another  colony 
had  been  located  a  little  farther  north.  Hans  and 
Abraham  Wittmer  from  Lancaster  county  had  settled 
in  Niagara  county.  These  communities  never  made 
much  progress  and  are  now  nearly  extinct. 


7.     John  Krehbiel,   Clarence  Center,   N.   Y.,  in  D.   K.   Cassel's  History  of 
the    Mennonites. 


282  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

Indiana 

The  first  Mennonites  to  come  to  Indiana,  as  just 
indicated,  were  the  Swiss  who  settled  in  Adams  county 
in  1835.  The  Old  Mennonites  located 
Swiss  in  Adams      in  the   state  a  few  years  later  than 
County  1835  either  the  Swiss  or  the  Amish  and  in 

the  same  county  as  the  latter, — Elk- 
hart.«     In  1843  one  John  Smith  from  Medina  county, 
Ohio,  visited  the  county  and  de- 
John  Smith  in  cided  to  locate  in  Harrison  town- 
Elkhart  County  1843     ship.     He  went  back  to  Ohio  but 
two  years  later  returned  with  his 
son   Joseph,   Christian    Henning  and    Bishop    Martin 
Hoover,  all  from  Medina  county.     In  the  Spring  of 
1848  Christian  and  Jacob  Christophel  and  Jacob  Wisler 
came  from  Columbiana  county,  Ohio,  and  on  Ascen- 
sion day  of  that  year  the  first  meeting  was  held  in  a 
log  school  house.     Sixteen  persons  were  present  on 
this  occasion.     During  the  course  of  the  same  year 
twenty-four  families,  including  those  by  the  names  of 
Hartman,  Holdeman,  Moyer,  Rohrer,  Weaver,  Nuss- 
baum,  Freed,  Weldy,  Yoder,  Brundage  and  Smeltzer 
from   Wayne,   Medina   and   Columbiana  counties,   all 
settled  in  the  southwestern  part  of  Elkhart  county. 
The  next  year  the  first  meeting  house,  now  known  as 
the  Yellow  Creek  church,  was  erected. 

In   1853  a  small   colony  of  Dutch  led  by  R.  J. 
Schmidt  and  N.  J.  Symensma  immigrated  to  the  same 


a.     See  Family  Almanac,  Elkhart,  Ind.,   1876. 


MENNONITES— NINETEENTH  CENTURY       283 

locality  from  Holland.  For  a  number  of  years  these 
people  held  separate  services  in  their  own 

The  Dutch       language,  but  finally  most  of  them  joined 

Colony  what  is  now  known  as  the  Salem  congre- 

gation, and  their  descendants  now  make 

up  a  large  part  of  that  community. 

From  these  beginnings  there  have  developed 
eleven  congregations  in  Elkhart  and  surrounding 
counties  with  a  membership  of  about  eleven  hundred. 
There  are  also  several  congregations  in  Michigan 
which  are  included  in  the  Indiana  Conference  district. 

The  church  in  this  state,  being  composed  largely 
of  Ohioans  has  differed  very  little  in  its  development 
from  the  church  in  Ohio.  Some  of  the  leading  men 
among  the  Mennonites  in  the  state  during  the  last 
half  century  have  been  Jacob  Christophel,  Daniel 
Brenneman,  Jacob  Wisler,  John  S.  Cofifman  and  John 
F.  Funk,  none  of  whom,  however,  were  born  in 
Indiana. 

Two  enterprises  which  have  grown  up  in  the  state 
have   exerted   considerable  influence  upon   the   entire 

body  of  Mennonites.  One,  the  Men- 
Influence  of  the  nonite  Publishing  Company  located 
Indiana  Church        at  Elkhart,  has  done  more  than  any 

other  agency  for  the  last  forty  years 
through  its  church  papers  and  other  publications  to 
inspire  Mennonites  of  all  branches  with  a  deeper  re- 
spect for  their  common  faith  and  history  and  with 
higher  conceptions  of  religious  duty.  The  other, 
Goshen  College,  recently  established  at  Goshen,  is 
beginning  to  exert  considerable  influence  upon  every 
phase  of  religious  and  intellectual  activity,  especially 
among  the  younger  element  in  the  church.     Neither 


284  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

of  these  institutions,  however,  can  be  claimed  by  the 
churches  of  Indiana.  Both  began  as  individual  enter- 
prises, and  both  have  very  largely  been  under  the  con- 
trol of  men  who  originally  came  from  without  the 
state. 

Illinois 

Mennonites   settled   in  Illinois  even  before   they 
came  to  Indiana.     In  the   Spring  of  1833   Benjamin 

Kindig,  a  member  of  the  original 
Kindig  Settles  in  Lancaster  county  Kindig  family,  to- 
Tazewell  County     gether  with  his  family  left  his  home 

in  Augusta  county,  Virginia,  to  seek 
better  opportunities  for  himself  on  the  cheaper  lands 
of  Illinois.^  Loading  all  his  worldly  possessions  on 
three  wagons,  he  began  his  journey  overland  through 
Kentucky,  Indiana  and  Illinois  for  his  new  home.  In 
October  of  the  same  year,  after  a  journey  of  eight 
hundred  miles  which  was  made  in  seven  weeks,  he 
reached  what  was  then  known  as  Hollands  Grove  in 
Tazewell  county. 

Kindig  was  a  Mennonite  and  was  soon  followed 
by  other  families  from  the  same  region  in  Virginia, 
who  although  not  of  the  same  faith'  at  that  time  were 
undoubtedly  of  Mennonite  descent.  Soon  after,  other 
Mennonites  came.  In  1837  Peter  Hartman  arrived 
from  Bavaria,  Germany,  by  way  of  Lancaster  county, 
Pennsylvania.  From  the  same  county  came  also  Ben 
Kauffman,  in  1842.  Ben  Brubaker  arrived  from  Rich- 
land county,  Ohio,  in  1851.  These  were  followed  by 
families  bearing*  the  names  Althaus,  Hirstein  and 
others.     The  first  minister  and  bishop  was  one  Yost 


9.     See   Journal    of    David    Kindig. 


MENNONITES— NINETEENTH  CENTURY      285 

Bally,  who  had  come  to  Illinois  very  early  from  Penn- 
sylvania. Not  much  is  known  of  his  early  life  as  a 
minister  except  that  for  many  years  he  was  the  pioneer 
bishop  of  the  early  settlements  in  the  state.  He  was 
later  assisted  by  Henry  Baer,  who  afterward  became 
the  first  preacher  in  the  congregation  which  was  es- 
tablished in  Livingston  county.  This  first  congrega- 
tion in  Illinois  never  prospered.  Its  membership  has 
always  remained  small.  Nearly  all  the  descendants  of 
the  earliest  settlers  have  left  the  church.  Among 
these  are  the  Kindigs,  Kaufifmans  and  Brubakers, 
names  which  today  are  well  known  in  central  Illinois. 
Soon  after,  beginning  about  1842  several  families 
immigrated  from  Bavaria  and  located  near  Galena  in 
Jo  Davis  county.  The  first  to  come 
Jo  Davis  County  was  Henry  Musselman.  He  was  fol- 
lowed some  years  later  by  Johannes 
Baer,  Peter  Neuenschwander  and  others.  A  congrega- 
tion was  organized  but  had  a  feeble  growth. 

Another  settlement  of  Bavarians  and  other  Ger- 
mans was  made  a  little  later,  from  about  1843  to  1860 
in  St.  Clair  county,  near  Summer- 
Bavarians  in  field.  Among  the  earliest  immi- 
St.  Clair  County  grants  were  Jacob  Pletcher,  1843, 
Christian  Baer,  1844,  and  Jacob 
Leisy,  1852.  At  this  time,  from  about  1840,  many  of 
the  German  immigrants  located  in  Iowa.  Some  of 
these  moved  to  Summerfield  between  1855  and  1860. 
Others  came  later  from  Germany  and  the  community 
has  since  grown  to  large  dimensions.  This  congrega- 
tion has  been  one  of  the  most  progressive  in  America 
and  has  had  among  its  pastors  some  of  the  ablest  men 
in  the  entire  church.    In  1861  it  formed,  together  with 


286  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

three  congregations  in  Iowa,  the  General  Conference 
of  Mennonites  of  North  America.  It  has  ever  since 
held  an  influential  position  in  that  organization.^" 

About  the  same  time,  also  in  the  forties  a  small 
settlement  was  begun  in  Stephenson  county,  near 
Freeport.  Among  the  earliest 
Stephenson  County  families  to  locate  here  were  those 
of  Godfrey  Groft,  John  Brubaker, 
and  Martin  and  Samuel  Lapp  from  Clarence  Center, 
New  York.  Others  came  later  from  Canada  and  Penn- 
sylvania. The  first  resident  minister  was  Martin 
Lapp,  who  also  later  became  the  pioneer  bishop  of 
Missouri. ^^ 

In  1858  four  families,  those  of  Abe  Harshbarger, 
Samuel     Graybill,     Samuel     Harshbarger    and    John 

Heckelman  came  from  Virginia  to 
The  Cullom  Livingston     county,     and     located     on 

Congregation       what  was  then  still  a  raw  prairie  near 

the  present  town  of  Cullom.  These 
were  soon  followed  by  others  from  Grundy  county, 
Illinois,  where  a  settlement  had  been  formed  some 
time  earlier  but  which  has  since  disappeared,  and  from 
Woodford  county. 

During  this  time  too  a  number  of  families  had 
located  in  Whiteside  county,  near  Sterling.     Among 

the  first  settlers  were  Jacob  Suavely, 
Settlement  Leonard    Hendi^cks,    Henry    Heckler, 

Near  Sterling       and  others,  principally  from  Bucks  and 

Lancaster  counties,  Pennsylvania. 
This  has  since  grown  to  be  the  largest  Mennonite  con- 
gregation in  the  state. 


10.  For  information   regarding  this  settlement   I  am  indebted  to  Rev.   C. 

van    der    Smissen    of    Summerfield,    Illinois. 

11.  John    Horsch,   in   Herald   of   Truth   for   December    1,    1891. 


MENNONITES— NINETEENTH  CENTURY      287 

In  1865  William  Gsell  from  Franklin  county, 
Pennsylvania,  settled  near  Morrison.  He  was  fol- 
lowed by  Henry  Nice  and  several  other  families  and  a 
church  was  organized  in  1868. 

In  this  same  year  also  was  organized  near  Sterling 
a  congregation  of  Reformed  Mennonites  who  had 
come  from  Pennsylvania. 

No  new  communities  were  started  in  the  state 
after  1865.  By  that  time  the  states  farther  west 
afforded  greater  attractions  for  such  Easterners  as 
were  seeking  cheaper  lands  and  broader  opportunities. 
The  Old  Mennonite  church  in  Illinois  has  never  grown 
to  large  proportions.  This  was  due  partly  to  the  fact 
that  the  various  congregations  have  been  scattered 
throughout  the  state  and  have  come  from  different 
localities  in  the  East  and  from  Europe,  and  thus  hav- 
ing little  in  common  but  their  faith,  they  did  not  unite 
their  efforts  to  extend  their  cause.  There  are  at 
present  six  congregations  with  a  total  membership  of 
scarcely  four  hundred. 

Western   States 

Although  the  Amish  had  located  in  Iowa  as  early 
as  1839,  few  Mennonites  from  the  older  states  seem 
to  have  crossed  the  Mississippi  before  the  Civil  war.^^' 
In  Missouri  a  small  colony  had  been  established  in 
Shelby  county  during  the  fifties.  In  Iowa  also  quite  a 
number  of  immigrants  from  Bavaria  and  the  Palatin- 
ate had  located  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the  state 


12.  For  more  detailed  information  regarding  the  recent  settlements  and 
history  of  the  Mennonites  and  Amish  in  the  western  states  the 
reader  is  referred  to  Hartzler  and  Kauffman's  Mennonite  Church 
History. 


288  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

during  the  early  forties  and  fifties/^  The  three  con- 
gregations which  resulted  from  this  German  settle- 
ment as  we  have  seen  were  among  the  charter  mem- 
bers of  the  General  Conference  of  Mennonites. 

These  two  settlements,  however,  with  perhaps 
several  individual  members  in  other  parts  were  the 
only  Mennonites  to  be  found  west  of  the  Mississippi 
before  1860. 

Soon  after  the  war  there  was  considerable  immi- 
gration of  all  classes  into  these  western  regions,  and 

among  some  of  these  settlers  were  several 
Missouri       bands   of   Mennonites.     In   Missouri   small' 

colonies  were  planted  in  Shelby,  Cass, 
Moniteau,  Morgan,  Chariton,  Cedar,  Hickory  and 
Jasper  counties.  Some  of  these  communities  were 
hardly  formed,  however,  before  they  were  again 
broken  up.  The  hard  times  of  73  together  with  the 
poor  judgment  which  some  had  exercised  in  the 
choice  of  their  lands  drove  some  back  to  their  eastern 
homes,  and  others  to  Kansas  where  they  fared  even 
worse  than  they  had  in  Missouri.  For  a  number  of 
years  the  church  decreased  in  membership,  but  finally 
with  what  may  be  called  the  general  awakening  of  the 
Mennonite  church  all  over  the  country  during  the 
early  eighties,  the  church  in  Missouri  was  also  given 
a  new  lease  of  life.  With  the  help  of  eastern  evan- 
gelists, foremost  of  whom  was  John  S.  Cofifman,  old 
communities  were  revived  and  new  ones  established.. 


13.  In  1845  John  Miller,  one  of  the  pioneer  Mennonite  ministers  of  the 
state,  and  Henry  Leisa  were  cruelly  murdered  in  their  log  cabin 
by  a  gang  of  robbers.  The  leader  of  the  robbers  was  finally- 
executed.     The  trial  was  given  wide  publicity  at  the  time. 


MENNONITES— NINETEENTH  CENTURY      289 

In  Iowa  the  earliest  Old  Mennonites  were  found 
in  Page  county  and  later  in  Keokuk  county, 
Iowa      which  now  contains  the  only  congregation  in 
the  state. 

Settlements  in  Kansas  and  Nebraska  were  begun 
about  1870.  Henry  Yother,  a  Pennsylvania  bishop  was 
one  of  the  first  to  locate  as  far  west  as 
Kansas  and  Nebraska.  During  the  years  immediately 
Nebraska  following,  others,  principally  from  Penn- 
sylvania and  Virginia,  settled  in  Marion 
and  McPherson  counties,  Kansas.  About  the  same 
time  also  several  families  of  the  "Holdeman"  branch 
of  the  church  and  large  numbers  of  Russians  came  to 
Kansas,  but  of  these  we  have  spoken  elsewhere.  Later 
new  congregations  were  formed  in  Osborne  and 
Harvey  counties,  Kansas,  and  in  Adams  county,  Ne- 
braska. 

The  early  settlers  in  these  states  had  to  endure 
many  hardships  during  the  early  days.  Many  were 
poor  and  had  located  on  homesteads.  They  lived  in 
sod  shanties  and  often  were  able  to  eke  out  a  bare 
existence.  Hot  winds  and  grasshoppers  drove  some 
back  to  their  former  homes  in  the  East  or  other  more 
favorable  parts.  But  others  remained  and  have  since 
become  fairly  prosperous. 

From  these  states  and  from  some  of  the  churches 
in  the  older  states  small  communities  have  within  re- 
cent years  been  established  in  Idaho,  Oregon,  North 
Dakota,  Colorado,  Oklahoma  and  Texas.  Most  of 
these  congregations  are  small.  The  entire  membership 
of  the  Old  Mennonite  church  west  of  the  Mississippi 
is  hardly  more  than  fifteen  hundred. 


290  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

The  reader  has  perhaps  already  been  struck  with 
the  fact  that  the  Mennonites  and  Amish  have  every- 
where appeared  among  the  pioneers  in 
Mennonites  the  settlement  of  the  unoccupied  lands  of 
as  Pioneers  our  country.  By  founding  Germantown 
in  1683  they  not  only  became  pioneer 
settlers  in  Pennsylvania,  but  established  the  first  reg- 
ular German  settlement  in  America.  In  1710  they 
were  the  first  white  settlers  of  the  Conestoga  region 
and  followed  hard  on  the  heels  of  the  Scotch-Irish 
huntsmen  who  had  blazed  the  way  for  the  first  per- 
manent settlers.  Before  1750  they  appeared  in  the 
Shenandoah  Valley  with  the  earliest  Germans  to  ven- 
ture into  that  region.  In  1772  they  crossed  the  Alle- 
ghanies  and  established  one  of  the  earliest  communi- 
ties in  the  valley  of  the  Juniata.  Again  before  the 
Revolutionary  war  they  appeared  among  the  first  set- 
tlers in  Southwestern  Pennsylvania,  near  the  head- 
waters of  the  Ohio. 

In  Ohio  they  ascended  the  Hocking  river  and 
located  in  Fairfield  county  just  ten  years  after  the 
founding  of  Marietta.  In  Illinois  they  began  to  clear 
the  timber  along  the  banks  of  the  Illinois  in  1831,  just 
ten  years  after  the  first  log  cabin  had  been  erected  in 
that  part  of  the  state.  In  Iowa  in  1839  they  located  in 
the  southeastern  part  of  the  state  before  the  raw 
prairies  had  ever  been  occupied  by  white  men.  And  so 
all  through  the  West  and  the  Northwest — in  Kansas, 
Nebraska,  the  Dakotas,  Oregon,  Oklahoma  and  the 
Canadian  Northwest,  wherever  new  lands  have  opened 
up  for  settlement  there  the  Mennonites  have  been 
among  the  first  to  put  up  their  log  cabins  and  sod 


MENNONITES— NINETEENTH  CENTURY       291 

shanties,    and   among   the    first    to   organize    pioneer 
churches. 


Schisms 

No  other  religious  body  has  been  divided  into  so 
many   factions   as   has  the   Mennonite   denomination. 

The  cause  is  to  be  sought  partly  in  the 
Causes  of  form  of  church  government  and  partly  in 
Schisms  the  spirit  and  the  character  of  the  people 

composing  the  church.  The  congrega- 
tional form  of  government  permits  each  congregation 
to  develop  such  religious  practices  and  customs  and 
to  a  certain  extent  such  opinions  as  it  thinks  fit.  This 
is  destructive  to  uniformity,  for  uniformity  is  much 
more  easily  maintained  where  the  entire  body  is  con- 
trolled by  a  central  authority.  1.  The  Mennonite  as 
w^ell  as  the  Anabaptist  faith  before  it  always  fostered 
a  strong  spirit  of  individualism.  From  the  beginning, 
Mennonites  were  taught  that  each  individual  must  in- 
terpret the  truth  as  expressed  in  the  Bible  for  and  by 
himself,  not  by  a  priest.  This  spirit  of  independence, 
while  it  tends  toward  the  development  of  the  strongest 
character,  yet  necessarily  does  so  at  the  expense  of 
uniformity  and  harmony.  2.  As  a  class  the  Menno- 
nites 'have  come  from  the  humbler  walks  of  life  and 
were  not  trained  to  subordinate  the  nonessentials  to 
the  broader  and  more  important  interests  of  life. 
3.  And  finally  they  were  thoroughly  religious  and 
took  their  religion  seriously.  Hence  such  convictions 
as  they  had  they  clung  to  persistently.  Several  divi- 
sions took  place  in  Holland,  Germany,  and  Switzerland 


292  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

during  the  seventeenth  and  the  eighteenth  centuries. 
Some  of  these,  however,  were  again  united. 

The  Reformed  Mennonites^* 

The  first  schism  of  the  century  in  America  must 
be  laid  to  the  account  of  John  Herr,  the  founder  of 
the  Reformed  Mennonite  church.^*  The  history  of  this 
sect  really  begins  with  the  excommunication  of  the 
father  of  John  Herr,  Francis  Herr,  of  Lancaster 
county.  Francis,  who  was  born  in  1748,  was  the  son 
of  a  well  known  Mennonite  minister  of  that  day  and 
was  himself  a  member  of  the  organization.  During 
his  later  years,  however,  he  became  dissatisfied  with 
the  church  and  finally  near  the  close  of  his  life  he  be- 
came involved  in  a  dispute  with  several  of  his  fellow 
members  which  resulted  in  his  excommunication  on 
the  alleged  ground  that  he  had  taken  undue  advantage 
of  a  neighbor  in  the  sale  of  a  horse. ^^ 

Being  evidently  of  a  religious  turn  of  mind,  how- 
ever, he,  together  with  several  others  who  had  a  griev- 
ance against  the  congregation  of  which  they  were 
members,  Abraham  Landis,  Jacob  Weaver,  David 
Buckwalter  and  several  others  held  meetings  for  re- 
ligious purposes  in  their  houses.  Although  no  attempt 
was  made  to  organize  a  separate  church,  these  meet- 
ings were  kept  up  until  Herr's  death  in  1810. 

John  Herr,  now  a  young  man  of  twenty-eight, 
who  had  never  been  a  member  of  the  Mennonite  de- 


14.  For  a  complete  history  of  the  Reformed  Mennonites  from  their  own 

point  of  view  see  Daniel  Musser's  The  Reformed  Mennonite 
Church  (1873).  John  F.  Funk  published  a  reply  to  Musser's  book 
in    his    Mennonite    Church    and    Her    Accusers    (1878). 

15.  See  lettc-  of  Susannah  Herr  in  J.    F.   Funk's   Mennonite  Church  and 

her    Accusers,    p.    110. 


MENNONITES— NINETEENTH  CENTURY      293 

nomination,  now  after  the  death  of  his  father  became 
'convicted  of  sin"  and  began  to  attend  the  meetings 
of  his  father's  associates.  Being  a  man  of  some  in- 
fluence he  soon  assumed  the  leadership  of  the  small 
group.  John  Herr,  prejudiced  against  the  Mennonites 
by  his  father,  would  not  cast  his  lot  with  them,  while 
his  associates  had  already  left  the  church.  And  so  the 
logical  result  of  these  meetings  was  the  organization 
of  a  new  body.  This  took  place  finally  in  the  spring 
of  1812  in  the  house  of  John  Herr,  in  Strasburg  town- 
ship, Lancaster  county,  when  Abraham  Landis,  who 
had  already  been  baptized  as  a  Mennonite,  now  bap- 
tized Herr,  who  in  turn  baptized  Landis  and  Abraham 
Groff.  Immediately  Herr  was  elected  bishop,  Landis 
preacher,  and  Groff  deacon  of  the  new  organization. 
Thus  was  launched  what  soon  became  known  as  the 
Reformed  Mennonite  church  among  themselves,  but 
among  others  as  the  "New  Mennonites"  or  frequently 
as  "Herrites."  Others,  chiefly  relatives  and  friends  of 
the  charter  members  joined  the  organization.  Meet- 
ings were  at  first  held  in  dwelling  houses,  school 
houses  and  barns. 

Herr,  whose  mind  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  had 
been  poisoned  against  the  Mennonites  by  his  father 
now  in  seeking  an  apology  for  the  organization  of  a 
new  sect  began  a  bitter  attack  upon  the  church,  his 
main  contention  being  that  it  had  become,  since  the 
days  of  Menno  Simons,  a  dead,  spiritless  and  corrupt 
body,  and  that  its  ministers  were  no  longer  the  true 
ministers  of  God.  In  one  of  his  controversial  pam- 
phlets appears  the  following  rather  elopuent,  although 
unjust  paragraph  in  which  he  compares  the  Mennon- 
ites of  the  days  of  Menno  Simons  and  Dirck  Philip 


294  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

with  those  of  his  own  generation,  very  much  to  the 
discredit  of  the  latter : 

Therefore  I  will  direct  thee,  my  dear  reader,  to  them. 
Search  the  above  mentioned  writings  with  an  unprejudiced 
heart,  and  spiritual  mind,  and  observe  how  they  pictured  the 
church  of  Christ  and  how  gloriously  they  set  it  forth  by 
the  testimony  of  Apostolic  truth  and  Divine  power,  and 
which  also  their  church  members  testified  by  their  fruits  and 
sealed  with  their  blood;  and  when  thou  hast  rightly  appre- 
hended this  truth,  then  look  over  also  on  the  present  com- 
munity with  a  spiritual  eye,  and  view  their  spiritual  life: 
their  arrogant  deportment,  and  their  careless  heart  in  Divine 
things,  their  insatiable  world  spirit,  their  dealing  and  their 
way,  how  sensual  it  is  in  every  point,  almost  through  the 
whole  of  them.  And  when  thou  hast  observed  this,  then  go 
a  little  further,  where  thou  wilt  find  a  great  many  defense- 
less, unarmed  men.  Then  ask  the  judge  and  the  attorney, 
they  will  tell  thee  that  some  are  engaged  in  strife  and  law- 
suits, as  much  as  others.  And  go  and  ask  the  debtors  and 
criminals;  they  will  tell  thee  that  they  see  none  more  fre- 
quently on  the  seats  of  judgment  passing  sentence  upon 
them  and  assisting  to  judge  them,  than  these.  Then  ask  the 
tavern  keepers  and  they  will  also  tell  thee  that  many  resort 
thither  who  are  lovers  of  spirituous  drinks,  and  from  which 
even  some  of  their  teachers  are  not  free;  and  if  thou  wouldst 
ask  the  race  riders  and  their  like  they  would  tell  thee  that 
they  also  have  some  as  spectators,  as  well  as  others.  And  if 
thou  wilt  search  all  of  these  fruits  impartially  according  to 
the  Gospel,  then  thou  wilt  soon  find  that  they  falsely  term 
themselves  the  church  of  Christ;  and  so  far  as  the  evening 
lis  from  the  morning,  or  darkness  from  light,  so  far  are  they 
separated  from  our  first  reformer's  doctrine  or  the  community 
of  Christ.  And  it  is  to  be  feared  that  the  candlestick  is  re- 
moved from  them,  that  they  cannot  see;  and  even  if  they  do 
see  it  and  do  not  repent,  it  will  ultimately  be  taken  from 
them  because  they  will  not  receive  the  truth  which  is  yet 
offered  to  them.^^ 


16.     Quoted    from    Herr    by    J.    F.    Funk    in    Mennonite    Church    and    her 
Accusers,  p.   14. 


MENNONITES— NINETEENTH  CENTURY      295 

Daniel  Musser  who  later  became  the  leading  de- 
fender of  the  sect  continued  Herr's  policy  of  denuncia- 
tion and  in  his  history  makes  these  interesting  charges 
.against  the  Mennonites : 

From  such  persons  as  were  friendly  to  the  church,  I  learned 
in  my  early  youth,  that  at  the  time  alluded  to,  viz:  the  latter 
part  of  the  last  and  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  the 
members  of  the  church  were,  in  regard  to  inward  or  spiritual 
life,  as  ignorant,  cold  and  dead  as  any  carnal,  unconverted 
person  could  be.  It  was  the  custom  generally,  that  when 
their  children  would  grow  up  to  years  of  maturity,  they  were 
baptized  and  received  into  the  church;  that  their  preachers 
or  teachers  were  altogether  inexperienced,  and  ignorant  in 
spiritual  matters;  and  as  a  consequence,  their  preparatory 
instruction,  and  examination  was  a  mere  matter  of  form. 
They  had  neither  the  knowledge  of  sin  or  righteousness. 
Their  parents  belonged  to  the  church  and  they  were  told 
that  they  also  should  be  joined  to  it.  There  was  nothing  in 
the  step  which  forbade  the  enjoyment  of  what  the  flesh  could 
have  life  and  glorification  in,  and  they  generally  agreed  to  the 
proposition  of  their  parents.  The  natural  result  of  such  a 
■course  was  a  carnal,  cold  and  senseless  religion.  The  public 
•service  was  generally  cold  and  formal,  and  private  religious 
-exercises  was  something  almost  unknown.  They 'had  their 
amusements  and  pastimes  in  rustic  sports  and  plays,  telling 
stories,  jesting  and  making  fun  generally.  They  were  gen- 
erally what  the  world  accounts  moral,  industrious,  frugal  and 
honest.  But  as  there  are  always  dispositions  which  tend  to 
extravagance  in  conduct  and  behavior,  there  were  not  want- 
ing many  instances  where  the  conduct  rather  exceeded  the 
bounds  of  propriety;  but  there  were  so  many  precedents 
where  these  were  passed  over  without  notice,  that  they  had 
to  be  very  flagrant,  if  any  notice  was  taken  of  them  by  the 
church  authorities;  and  if  notice  was  taken,  it  was  in  a 
mere  formal  manner  which  excited  more  merriment  and 
sport  in  the  church,  than  grief  and  sorrow.  At  that  time 
•spirituous  liquor  was  more  freely  used  in  all  families  than  at 
present;  and  inebriation  was  a  thing  not  at  all  uncommon, 
.and  had  to  be  very  aggravated  if  any  notice  was  taken  of  it. 


296  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

Cases  were  related  to  me,  where  members  got  outrageously 
disorderly  and  no  notice  was  taken  to  it. 

It  was  a  very  customary  thing,  at  the  time  we  refer  to, 
for  the  younger  members  to  meet  together  on  Sunday  after- 
noon, from  church  service,  and  spend  the  afternoon  in  such 
sports  as  wrestling,  jumping,  running  foot-races,  playing  ball, 
or  whatever  sports  and  games  of  the  kind  were  in  vogue  at 
the  time.  The  older  members,  with  preachers  would  look  on 
as  spectators,  and  had  for  a  proverb,  "Honorable  sports  or 
diversions  no  one  can  forbid."  At  their  marriages,  feasting, 
■drinking,  and  noisy  mirth  were  carried  to  great  extremes. 

At  that  time  the  old-fashioned  fairs  were  annually  held 
.at  all  the  towns  of  any  size,  even  down  to  small  villages.  At 
Lancaster,  the  gatherings  were  usually  very  large.  Numbers 
of  the  members  of  the  church  attended  also.  There  was,  as 
may  well  be  supposed,  all  kinds  of  wickedness  and  ungodly 
deeds  practiced  there.  I  have  no  information  how  far  the 
members  of  the  church  took  part  in  these  acts  of  wickedness, 
but  by  their  presence  they  showed  them  such  countenance  as 
tended  to  uphold  and  support  them.  The  old  portion  of  the 
community  usually  attended  the  second  day,  when  many  of 
the  elderly  members  also  attended.  It  was  the  custom  of 
these  old  men  to  have  their  bottle  of  wine,  round  which  they 
would  sit,  and  often  become  partially  intoxicated,  and  some- 
times considerably  more  than  partially.  At  this  time  nearly 
all  attended  elections,  and  many  of  them  participated  very 
actively  in  electioneering,  to  further  the  chances  of  their 
favorite  candidate.  This  I  have  myself  seen,  and  heard  one 
:say  openly  that  he  had  on  one  occasion  voted  twice  at  the 
same  election.  These  things  were  not  of  accidental  or  private 
occurence.  They  were  common,  open  and  known  to  the 
world;  and  well  known  to  the  church  also,  and  even  some 
■of  their  preachers  were  not  free  from  the  charge. 

They  still  as  a  general  thing,  were  plain  in  their  dress 
and  manner  of  life.  They  also  still  professed  to  be  nonre- 
sistant,  and  refused  to  swear;  but  they  very  grossly  violated 
their  nonresistance,  by  acts  tending  to  countenance  and  abet 
warfare,  and  more  especially,  by  seeking  redress  of  grievance 
at  law,  and  defending  themselves  at  law  against  claims  which 
they  considered  just.    This  was  violating  a  very  decided  prin- 


MENNONITES— NINETEENTH  CENTURY      297 

ciple  of  Menno  Simons'  profession.  The  washing  of  feet  if 
tiot  rejected,  was  at  least  practically  omitted  for  many  years. 
The  kiss  of  peace  was  very  little,  if  at  all  practiced.  The 
refusal  to  hear  the  service,  or  join  the  worship  with  those 
who  reject  and  refuse  to  obey  the  plain  commands  of  the 
Gospel,  together  with  avoiding  excommunicated  members, 
both  of  which  Menno  so  strenuously  upheld,  they  rejected  al- 
together and  do  so  still,  to  the  present  day,  in  our  part  of  the 
country.  A  church  that  does  not  walk  in  the  love  of  God, 
must  be  destitute  of  the  Spirit,  and  consequently  a  dead  body. 
If  the  members  of  this  church  lived  and  walked  as  we  have 
related  that  tradition  reports  they  did,  they  certainly  were 
not  obedient  to  Christ. ^^ 

Of  course  it  is  to  be  expected  that  such  partisans 
as  Herr  and  Musser  should  fail  to  find  any  good  in  the 
Old  Mennonites,  but  see  only  their  faults  which  they 
have  unduly  magnified.  It  is  true  that  in  some  re- 
spects the  church  in  1800  was  more  addicted  to  the 
forms  of  religion  than  now,  and  some  of  the  charges 
made  by  these  men  may  not  be  altogether  unfounded, 
but  that  the  whole  body  was  hopelessly  corrupt  is 
an  accusation  that  could  come  only  from  such  a  bitter 
and  ultrapuritanical  spirit  as  that  of  John  Herr's.  That 
the  new  sect  which  he  founded  was  even  more  formal 
than  the  church  which  he  denounced,  but  of  which  he 
-never  was  a  member  can  be  seen  by  an  examination  of 
the  discipline  and  religious  practices  of  the  new  body. 

In  doctrine  and  practice  the  Reformed  Mennonites 
have  borrowed  much  from  the  main  body.  As  is  true 
of  most  of  the  other  factions  which  have  separated 
from  the  church,  so  here  the  differences  between  Herr 
and  his  friends,  and  the  church  were  more  of  a  per- 
sonal than  of  a  doctrinal  character.  And  so  the  nev/ 
organization  has  deviated  very  little  from  the  funda- 


17.     Quoted    in    Mennonite    Church    and    her    Accusers,    p.    10. 


298  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

mental  doctrines  of  the  Old  Mennonite  body.  In  some 
of  their  practices,  however,  they  have  carried  several 
of  these  principles  to  extreme  length.  They  are  still 
severely  plain  in  their  dress,  and  in  the  furnishings  of 
their  houses.  They  believe  in  a  rigid  application  of  the 
ban  and  the  avoidance,  and  are  very  exclusive.  They 
consider  it  a  sin  to  worship  with  those  who  are  not 
members  of  their  own  organization,  or  even  to  listen 
to  the  preaching  of  ministers  of  other  denominations. 
In  this  respect  they  resemble  the  so-called  "New- 
Amish"  of  Illinois. 

In  numbers  they  have  not  grown  strong.  Lan- 
caster county  is  still  the  stronghold  of  the  sect,  the 
largest  congregations  being  in  Lancaster  city  and  near 
Landisville.  They  also  have  a  small  number  of  con- 
gregations scattered  throughout  other  counties  and 
states.  Their  influence  has  not  been  great,  but  in  Lan- 
caster county  there  was  often  much  bitter  feeling  for 
many  years  between  the  "New"  and  the  "Old"  Men- 
nonites. 

The   Oberholtzer   Schism 

The  next  church  division  commonly  spoken  of  as 
the  Oberholtzer  schism,^^  appeared  first  in  Montgom- 
ery county,  Pennsylvania,  in  1847.    To  appreciate  the 


18.  The  principal  printed  sources  of  information  regarding  this  contro- 
versy are  to  be  found  in  several  pamphlets  written  by  Oberholtzer, 
and  in  a  brief  of  an  appeal  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  Pennsylvania, 
in  1877  which  was  printed  in  1883.  This  appeal  was  the  result  of 
a  lawsuit  between  the  two  factions  for  the  possession  of  the 
Mennonite  meeting  house  at  Boyertown,  and  contains  the  state- 
ment of  Oberholtzer  himself  and  others  regarding  the  events  of 
1847.  A  copy  of  this  printed  appeal  can  be  found  in  the  library  of 
J.    F.    Funk,    Elkhart,    Ind. 


MENNONITES— NINETEENTH  CENTURY      299 

reasons  for  Oberholtzer's  withdrawal  from  the  church 
one  needs  to  remember  that  the  Mennonites  in  this 
part  of  Pennsylvania,  the  Franconia  conference  dis- 
trict, were  at  this  time  still  very  conservative  in  regard 
to  all  religious  as  well  as  secular  customs  and  prac- 
tices. Out  of  this  ultra-conservatism  and  partly  be- 
cause of  it  there  developed  a  small  element  of  ultra- 
liberalism.  The  two  sides  came  into  conflict  and  the 
natural  result  was  another  division.  The  following 
extract  from  an  article  which  was  written  recently 
from  the  ultra-liberal  point  of  view  by  one  no  longer 
a  member  of  either  branch  of  the  denomination,  per- 
haps states  fairly  well  a  few  of  the  conflicting  interests 
of  the  time.  This  writer,  speaking  of  the  customs  of 
that  day  says, 

My  father  was  an  ardent  Whig,  and  he  supported  the 
measures  that  looked  for  the  lightening  of  the  burdens 
the  country  was  under. 

He  attended  the  township  primaries,  the  county  con- 
ventions that  framed  the  ticket,  and  attended  political  meet- 
ings, believing  as  a  good  citizen  it  was  his  duty  to  do  so.  He 
was  waited  upon  by  minister  Eli  Landis  and  elder  John 
Gotwals,  warning  him  of  having  ofifended  the  rules  of  the 
meeting,  assuming  that  such  was  the  duty  of  the  people  of 
the  world.  This  may  be  said  to  be  the  beginning  of  church 
troubles. 

It  was  about  this  time  when  linen  covers  on  dearborns 
were  giving  way  to  black  oilcloth  covers.  When  my  father 
availed  himself  of  a  black  oilcloth  cover  for  his  dearborn  he 
was  charged  with  violating  a  long  established  custom  of  the 
Mennonites  in  making  such  a  change;  and  when  a  year  or 
so  later  he  had  elleptic  springs  put  on  the  running  gears  of 
his  carriage  he  sinned  even  more  grievously.  Then  too  came 
the  charge  that  his  children  did  not  conform  to  the  style  and 
dress  of  the  Meeting.  Though  my  father  always  wore  the 
Mennonite  garb,  he  laid  no  stress  on  it  and  allowed  his  boys 
and  girls  to  dress  like  others  around  them.     I  remember  it 


300  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

was  under  discussion  that  my  sisters  must  wear  caps  at 
meeting,  and  be  otherwise  plain  in  dress.  Other  matters 
came  up,  such  as  forbidding  marrying  outside  of  the  denomi- 
nation, attendance  on  civil  duties,  such  as  voting  at  election, 
resorting  to  process  of  law  to  recover  property,  favoring 
liberal  education,  etc.  I  remember  a  deep  impression  was 
made  on  me  by  these  outside  restraining  influences  to  my 
ambition  in  striving  to  obtain  an  education,  as  father  was 
charged  with  being  worldly  minded  and  allowing  too  much 
latitude  to  his  children,  and  thus  also  influencing  others  grow- 
ing up   around   him. 

My  father  was  regularly  ordained  to  the  ministry  on 
New  Year  1847,  some  months  before  the  split  took  place.  My 
uncle,  John  Hunsicker,  who  was  then  bishop  in  the  district 
comprising  Skippack,  Methacthen,  Providence  and  Zieglers 
(now  Gotwals)  died  in  the  autumn  of  1847,  and  my  father 
became  bishop  of  the  above  named  district. 

This  continued  and  intensified  opposition  by  the  Menno- 
nites  as  referred  to  above,  and  perhaps  some  I  have  omitted, 
culminated  in  a  schism  or  split  at  the  conference  at  Franconia 
in  May,  1847,  when  John  Hunsicker,  my  uncle,  John  H. 
Oberholtzer,  William  Landis,  Israel  Beidler  and  my  father 
Abraham  Hunsicker,  ministers  ordained  as  Mennonites,  were 
literally  put  out  of  the  meeting  for  holding  liberal  views  in 
advance  of  the  church. ^^ 

Among  the  liberal  minded  men  of  the  church  at 
tlie  time  was  a  young  school  teacher  and  minister  by 
the  name  of  John  H.  Oberholtzer.  Oberholtzer  was 
born  in  Montgomery  county  in  1808.  At  the  age  of 
sixteen  he  began  to  teach  school,  and  at  thirty-four  he 
was  ordained  to  the  ministry  in  the  Swamp  church. 
Being  a  young  man  with  perhaps  a  little  better  educa- 
tion than  his  fellow  ministers  and  of  a  more  progressive 
spirit,  he  did  not  always  work  in  harmony  with  them. 


19.     Henry    A.    Hunsicker,    in    Mennonite    Year    Book    and    Almanac,    for 
1907. 


MENNONITES— NINETEENTH  CENTURY      301 

His  troubles  began  soon  after  he  entered  the  ministry. 
Among  the  prescribed  customs  for  the  ministers  of 
those  days  was  the  wearing  of  the  so-called  "regula- 
tion" coat,  which  was  collarless  and  of  a  prescribed 
cut.  This,  Oberholtzer  together  with  a  few  others 
refused  to  do,  but  continued  to  wear  his  usual  dress. 
In  speaking  of  this  matter  some  time  later  he  himself 
says, 

Soon  after  I  began  to  preach  some  of  the  members  were 
displeased  with  the  way  I  was  operating,  and  for  different 
reasons.  One  because  I  did  not  change  my  coat  from  what  it 
was  before;  some  thought  it  unbecoming  for  me  to  wear  a 
collar  on  my  coat,  or  to  have  buttons  on  both  sides.  Most 
objections  were  made  against  the  form,  some  contending  that 
it  ought  to  be  round.  But  as  the  Mennonite  creed  did  not 
say  what  form  of  coat  the  minister  had  to  wear,  in  view  of  the 
Gospel  I  exercised  my  own  privilege  as  to  what  would  be 
appropriate  and  continued  to  wear  my  usual  dress. 

The  question  was  finally  taken  up  by  the  Franconia 
conference  which  in  1844  decided  in  favor  of  the  con- 
ventional coat,  and  further  declared  that  all  who  dis- 
regarded this  ruling  would  be  denied  the  right  to  vote 
in  the  conference.  Oberholtzer  refused  to  comply,  but 
the  next  year  declared  that  he  would  wear  the  coat 
provided  the  resolution  of  1844  were  withdrawn,  which 
of  course  the  conference  refused  to  do.  Thus  the 
quarrel  on  this  and  perhaps  other  questions  continued 
until  the  spring  of  1847  when  matters  were  brought 
to  a  crisis  at  the  spring  meeting  of  the  conference.  Ta 
the  old  subject  of  dispute  there  was  now  added  an- 
other. Heretofore  no  records  had  been  kept  of  the 
conference  sessions.  Neither  had  there  been  any  con- 
stitution nor  by-laws  for  the  regulation  of  its  proceed- 
ings. Oberholtzer,  feeling  that  both  would  serve  the 
best  interests  of  the  conference  drew  up  a  constitution) 


302  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

which  he  first  read  to  several  of  his  friends  and  then 
submitted  it  to  the  conference  in  the  spring  session. 
The  majority  of  his  fellow  ministers,  however,  either 
because  they  objected  to  any  departure  from  the  old 
methods  of  work,  or  because  they  had  lost  patience 
with  Oberholtzer,  who  for  some  time  had  not  been 
in  good  standing  among  them  (although  at  this  meet- 
ing he  appeared  with  the  conventional  coat)  refused  to 
consider  his  draft  by  a  vote  of  60  to  16.  Oberholtzer 
and  his  friends,  however,  insisting  upon  thrusting  their 
constitution  upon  the  conference  again  submitted  it  at 
the  fall  session  of  the  same  year.  Being  again  refused 
a  hearing,  Oberholtzer  with  fifteen  other  ministers  and 
deacons  from  the  western  end  of  the  district  withdrew 
from  the  Franconia  conference  and  Oberholtzer  was 
at  the  same  time  expelled  from  the  conference,  and  on 
October  28,  1847,  the  party  met  in  the  old  Skippack 
church  and  there  organized  a  new  conference. 

This  is  the  story  of  the  division  as  it  is  told  by 
Oberholtzer  and  others  who  lived  at  the  time,  and  as 
it  lives  in  tradition.  But  the  real  cause  of  the  trouble 
lay  deeper  than  in  a  difference  of  opinion  over  the 
cut  of  a  coat  or  the  adoption  of  written  by-laws  for  the 
conducting  of  conference  sessions.  These  disputes 
were  mere  superficial  evidences  of  more  fundamental 
differences  between  Oberholtzer  and  his  friends  on  the 
one  hand,  and  the  majority  of  the  Franconia  Mennon- 
ites  on  the  other.  Judging  from  the  statement  of  prin- 
ciples which  the  new  body  drew  up  soon  after  their 
formal  withdrawal,  the  two  parties  were  irreconcilably 
at  variance  in  their  doctrinal  views.  The  new  organ- 
ization declared  in  favor  of  open  communion,  and  a 
loose  interpretation  of  the  ban.    They  expressed  them- 


MENNONITES— NINETEENTH  CENTURY       307 

selves  in  favor  of  using  the  law^  whenever  necessary 
to  protect  their  interests.  They  permitted  intermar- 
riage v^ith  members  of  other  denominations,  and  also 
soon  instituted  a  salaried  ministry  and  other  liberal 
policies.^"  On  most  of  these  questions  they  differed 
radically  from  the  main  body  of  the  church.  A  division 
under  these  conditions  was  inevitable. 

The  withdrawal  of  these  sixteen  from  the  confer- 
ence soon  had  its  influence  upon  various  congregations 
within  the  district.  That  there  was  quite  a  consider- 
able liberal  element  in  the  church  in  this  region  is 
shown  by  the  fact,  that  immediately  several  entire 
congregations  went  over  to  the  new  organization.  In 
the  churches  at  Schwenkville,  Skippack  and  Swamp, 
the  few  who  were  left  of  the  old  church  had  to  build 
new  meeting  houses.  At  Bally  und  Deep  Run  the  new 
wing  erected  new  houses  of  worship,  while  at  Boyer- 
town  the  two  parties  occupied  the  same  building  om 
alternate  Sundays  for  many  years,  but  finally  became 
involved  in  a  lawsuit  for  the  possession  of  the  building. 
Other  congregations  were  later  established  at  Saucon,. 
Springfield,  Phoenixville,  Philadelphia  and  several 
other  places. 

These  "Oberholtzer"  congregations  finally  united 
with  many  of  the  Russian  churches  in  the  western 
states  and  with  a  number  of  independent  congrega- 
tions in  various  parts  of  the  country  in  the  formation 
of  a  general  conference.  All  of  these  are  now  members 
of  the  General  Conference  of  Mennonites. 


20.     See  J.   H.   Oberholtzer.     Verantwortung  und   Erlauterung  der  Wahre- 
Character. 


304  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

Jacob  Stauffer 

At  about  the  time  of  Oberholtzer's  withdrawal 
there  appeared  another  man  in  the  Pennsylvania 
church  who  became  the  leader  of  a  small  following. 
This  was  Jacob  Stauffer,  who  becoming  involved  in 
a  church  dispute,  was  excommunicated,  whereupon  he 
soon  tried  to  build  up  a  new  organization.  Unlike 
Oberholtzer,  who  found  the  old  church  too  conserv- 
ative, Stauffer  accused  it  of  being  too  liberal.  Like 
John  Herr  whom  he  resembled  in  many  respects  he 
now  suddenly  discovered  after  his  expulsion  that  the 
church  had  drifted  from  its  original  foundation  and 
had  recently  fallen  into  decay,  and  that  he  was  called 
upon  by  Providence  to  restore  the  old  principles  in  a 
new  organization.  His  specific  charges  against  the 
denomination  were  '*worldliness"  and  "pride".. 

There  are  many  whose  whole  heart  is  turned  to  earthly- 
things.  They  speak  and  think  only  of  worldly  things,  of 
buying  and  selling,  of  planting  and  building.  One  advises  the 
other  how  he  can  make  and  win  much  money,  and  that  even 
on  Sunday  on  the  way  to  and  from  the  meeting  house.  One 
asks  the  other  what  is  the  market  worth,  have  you  sold  your 
grain,  etc?  One  very  seldom  hears  of  salvation  and  the 
eternal  heavenly  treasures.  Many  instruct  one  another  on 
worldly  elections,  and  even  electioneer  for  their  favorite 
candidates.  They  become  jurymen  to  judge  the  lawsuits, 
thievery,  and  murders  of  worldly  people.  Some  have  joined 
insurance  companies.  Others,  even  bishops  and  preachers 
put  lightning  rods  (through  lack  of  faith)  upon  their  houses. 
Much  pride  has  also  entered  into  the  hearts  of  many.  They 
pride  themselves  in  their  finely  ornamented  clothes,  in  the 
combing  and  braiding  of  hair  and  in  the  wearing  of  gold. 
Their  houses  are  adorned  with  all  sorts  of  colored  and  gaudy 
tinsels,  and  upon  the  walls  hang  many  idolatrous  pictures. 

Among  other  "worldly"  practices  to  which  Jacob 


MENNONITES— NINETEENTH  CENTURY      305 

Stauffer   objected   were   camp   meetings   and   singing 
schools. 

Thus  appeared  to  the  eyes  of  this  puritan,  the 
Mennonites  of  his  day,  who  in  all  matters  of  dress  and 
outward  display  at  least,  must  still  have  been  severely 
plain  and  modest.  His  attempts  to  build  up  a  new 
church,  however,  never  succeeded,  and  his  following 
has  been  small. 

The  Church  of  God 

The  next  attempt  at  a  reformation  was  made  in 
Wayne  county,  Ohio,  by  John  Holdeman,  a  member  of 
the  congregation  in  charge  of  Bishop  John  Shaum  and 
minister  Peter  Troxel.  Holdeman  was  a  man  of  un- 
usual learning  among  his  brethren,  of  strong  convic- 
tion, and  of  bold  egotism.  He  was  a  believer  in  dreams 
and  visions  and  was  largely  guided  in  his  religious  life 
by  "the  voice  of  the  Holy  Spirit"  which  called  to  him 
sometimes  in  his  dreams  and  sometimes  in  his  work 
during  the  day.  These  visions,  he  says,  began  soon; 
after  his  baptism  at  the  age  of  twenty,  in  1853.  At 
this  time  and  even  before,  he  said  he  had  a  strong 
conviction  that  he  would  some  day  be  a  minister  of  the 
Gospel.  This  conviction  he  confided  to  Bishop  Abra- 
ham Rohrer  on  the  day  of  his  baptism.  In  the  mean- 
time he  also  had  a  vision  through  which  he  understood 
that  some  one  would  be  converted  through  his  minis- 
try. In  a  dream  he  saw  before  him  stems,  and  upon 
them  were  pieces  of  glas-s  triangular  in  shape,  some  of 
which  were  turned  into  ice,  and  one  melted  in  his 
hands. 

No  sooner  had  he  joined  the  church  than  he  began 
to  find  fault  with  many  of  his  fellow  members.    Many 


306  MENNONITES    OF   AMERICA 

he  said  had  come  into  the  church  unconverted.  He  was 
also  troubled  because  of  the  "worldly  and  light  minded 
conversation  amongst  the  brethren,  the  great  lack  in 
the  raising  of  children  and  the  neglect  of  the  avoidance 
of  the  excommunicated".  This  faultfinding  spirit 
brought  him  into  trouble  with  those  in  authority. 

Finally  after  four  years  of  fruitless  effort  to  im- 
press his  views  upon  the  church,  and  of  disappointment 
for  not  being  called  into  the  ministry,  he  decided  upon 
a  new  course  of  action.  One  Sunday  in  the  winter  of 
1858,  he  again  heard  the  "voice  of  the  Spirit"  which 
told  him  that  the  melted  ice  which  had  appeared  ta 
him  in  his  earlier  vision  meant  his  father,  who  that 
day  would  be  converted.  Whereupon  he  invited  his 
father  and  others  to  his  house  on  that  day  and  preached 
to  a  little  company  of  eleven  for  two  hours.    He  says, 

I  was  much  moved,  and  spake  in  fervency  of  spirit.  I  placed 
before  them  the  decay  of  the  church.  I  taught  the  raising  of 
children,  and  reproved  the  corruption  therein;  and  reproved 
their  going  to  election;  and  taught  the  avoidance  of  the 
excommunicated;  and  I  also  reproved  the  manner  of  giving 
testimony  under  what  I  believed  (and  yet  believe)  to  be  an 
oath.  I  also  affirmed  my  calling;  and  taught  that  the  lot  was. 
no  command  whereby  to  ordain  ministers  into  their  office.  I 
also  was  moved  to  say  that  God  would  divide  the  church 
into  two  parts,  and  if  it  would  not  take  place,  then  I  would  be 
a  liar  and  not  sent  of  God;  and  if  it  would  not  come  in  one 
year,  then  it  would  come  in  two;  if  not  in  two,  then  in. 
three.2i 

These  meetings  were  continued  irregularly  for 
some  time  and  naturally  brought  Holdeman  more  than 
ever  into  disfavor  with  his  fellow  members.  Not  satis- 
fied with  the  church,  and  yet  not  quite  willing  to  with- 
draw   from    the   denomination    entirely,    he    and    his 


21.     John  Holdeman.     History  of  the  Church  of  God,  p.   189. 


MENNONITES— NINETEENTH  CENTURY      307 

father  visited  the  so-called  "Stauffer"  people  and  the 
^'Herrites"  in  Pennsylvania,  in  the  hope  of  finding 
congenial  association  among  them,  but  not  satisfied 
with  either,  they  organized  a  new  sect  commonly 
known  as  the  "Holdeman"  branch  of  the  church,  but 
officially  as  the  Church  of  God  in  Christ.  Holdeman 
now  took  up  his  pen  in  defence  of  his  action  and,  like 
Herr  and  Stauffer  before  him,  maintained  that  the 
old  church  had  departed  from  the  ways  of  truth,  and 
that  his  organization  was  the  true  church  of  God  which 
had  maintained  the  lineage  of  saints  from  the  apostolic 
days. 

The  sect  grew  very  slowly.  Outside  of  his  own 
family  Holdeman  for  a  while  received  scant  recogni- 
tion. By  1865  the  congregation  consisted  of  twenty 
members.  It  has  since  grown,  however,  into  a  number 
of  small  congregations  in  Kansas,  Michigan,  Missouri, 
Manitoba,  and  several  other  western  states. 

In  faith  and  practice  this  branch  differs  little  from 
the  Old  Mennonites,  except  that,  in  addition  to  the 
differences  noted  above  they  also  oppose  the  "taking  of 
usury"  and  practice  the  "laying  on  of  hands"  after 
baptism. 

The  "Wisler"  Mennonites 

The  next  church  division  took  place  in  Elkhart 
county,  Indiana,  in  what  is  called  the  Yellow  Creek 
congregation.^-  Among  the  pioneer  settlers  in  this 
community  was  Jacob  Wisler  from  Ohio,  who  soon 
became  the  first  bishop  of  the  church  in  the  state.    He 


22.  For  information  on  the  Wisler  and  the  Brenneman  divisions  I  am 
indebted  among  other  sources  to  a  manuscript  prepared  especially 
for  my  use  by   Daniel   Brenneman  of  Goshen,   Indiana, 


-■308  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

was  a  man  devoted  to  the  principles  of  his  faith,  but 
exceedingly  conservative  by  nature,  and  opposed  to  the 
introduction  of  all  "new  things"  in  forms  of  worship 
and  religious  practice.  The  church  under  his  charge 
was  slow  to  adopt  some  of  the  nev/er  methods  of  work 
•common  to  other  communities.  The  services  were  all 
•conducted  in  the  German  language.  Four  part  singing 
was  still  considered  worldly.  Sunday  schools,  evening 
meetings,  protracted  meetings  and  in  fact  every  slight- 
est departure  from  the  customs  of  the  fathers  was 
looked  upon  with  disfavor  by  Wisler  and  a  consider- 
able portion  of  his  congregation.  Some  of  them,  how- 
ever, demanded  a  more  progressive  policy,  desiring 
especially  some  English  preaching  and  good  singing. 

About  this  time,  1864,  there  came  from  Fairfield 
■county,  Ohio,  another  minister  in  the  person  of  Daniel 
Brenneman,  who  was  much  younger  than  Wisler, 
more  progressive  in  his  ideas,  a  better  speaker  and 
more  attractive  in  personality. 

Around  these  two  men  were  grouped  respectively 
the  conservative  and  progressive  elements  of  the  church. 
Wisler  was  the  bishop  and  as  such  dictated  the  prac- 
tices and  forms  of  worship.  He  favored  neither  four- 
part  singing  nor  English  preaching.  Brenneman  met 
the  demand  for  both  by  holding  meetings  in  school 
houses,  and  other  places  where  he  often  spoke  to 
crowded  audiences.  This  practice  AVisler  disapproved 
of  on  the  ground  that  it  savored  too  much  of  pro- 
tracted meetings. 

Thus  the  rivalry  continued  and  grew  more  bitter 
until  finally  Wisler,  who  was  possessed  of  a  stubborn 
will,  determined  to  forbid  on  pain  of  excommunication 
the    introduction    of    everything    "new"    into  churcli 


MENNONITES— NINETEENTH  CENTURY      309 

worship.  His  arbitrary  method  of  enforcing  this 
policy,  together  with  other  quarrels  with  some  of  his 
brethren  finally  resulted  in  a  church  trial  which  was 
held  at  Yellow  Creek  in  1870,  by  a  committee  of 
bishops  from  neighboring  states  and  Canada.  Wisler's 
conduct  at  this  trial  was  such  that  he  was  deprived  of 
his  ministerial  ofiice  by  the  committee.  After  vainly 
trying  to  settle  his  difficulties  with  the  church,  Wisler, 
during  the  next  year  formally  withdrew  and  together 
with  his  followers  organized  what  is  commonly  spoken 
■of  as  the  "Wisler"  branch  of  the  denomination, 

Wisler  had  a  number  of  followers  in  his  own  and 
other  congregations.  These  sympathizers  were  prin- 
cipally from  those  who  preferred  the  good  old  customs 
of  the  fathers  to  the  innovations  which  always  follow 
in  the  path  of  progress.  In  1872  a  number  of  mem- 
bers of  the  Mennonite  congregation  in  Medina  county, 
Ohio,  joined  his  organization.  In  more  recent  years 
several  new  divisions  in  the  old  church  in  Canada  and 
in  Pennsylvania  have  slightly  swelled  the  ranks  of  the 
AVislerites. 

In  1886  a  number  of  conservatives  from  Woolwich 
townships,  Waterloo  county,  Ontario,  withdrew  from 
the  main  body  on  the  ground  that  it  tolerated  English 
preaching,  Sunday  schools,  evening  meetings,  "falling" 
top  buggies,  all  of  which  were  considered  too  worldly 
for  pious  Christians.  These  people  known  sometimes 
locally  as  "Woolwichers,"  finding  in  the  Wislerites 
kindred  spirits  now  work  in  harmony  with  that  body. 
They  have  about  a  dozen  small  congregations  scat- 
tered throughout  Waterloo,  York,  and  Lincoln  coun- 
ties. 

In  1893  Bishop  Jonas  Martin  of  the  Weaverland 


310  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

•congregation  in  Lancaster  county,  Pennsylvania,  be- 
coming involved  in  a  dispute  with  some  of  his  mem- 
bers regarding  a  new  pulpit  which  he  considered  too 
line  for  his  church,  withdrew  from  the  congregation 
and  by  posing  as  a  conservative  on  other  church 
questions  retained  about  one  third  of  his  congregation. 

In  1901  there  was  also  a  "Martinite"  church  of 
about  one  hundred  members  established  in  Rocking- 
ham county,  Virginia,  which  was  made  up  of  the  ex- 
treme conservatives  of  that  region. 

These  four  small  bands  of  conservative  Menno- 
nites,  which  hardly  deserve  the  name  of  a  separate 
branch  of  the  church,  now  count  up  all  told  hardly 
more  than  two  thousand  members  scattered  through 
about  thirty  congregations  in  Pennsylvania,  Indiana, 
Ohio,  Canada,  Michigan  and  Virginia. 

In  doctrine  the  Wislerites,  including  the  other 
above  mentioned  communities,  do  not  differ  from  the 
main  body.  In  religious  customs  and  practices,  how- 
ever, they  are  extremely  conservative.  In  dress,  in 
language,  in  forms  of  worship  and  in  social  customs 
they  are  slow  in  accepting  new  ideas.  They  occupy 
among  the  Mennonites  a  position  similar  to  thai  of  the 
Old  Order  Amish  among  the  Amish  people.  They 
might  well  be  called  the  "Old  Order"  Mennonites. 

Mennonite  Brethren  in  Christ 

Hardly  had  the  trouble  with  Wisler  been  settled 
before   a   new   difficulty   arose   in   the   Yellow   Creek 

■  church.    The  larger  part  of  the  congregation  was  still 

■  conservative  in  all  methods  of  religious  work,  even 
:-after  a  few  of  the  ultra-conservatives  had  withdrawn. 


MENNONITES— NINETEENTH  CENTURY       311 

Protracted  meetings  and  other  practices  now  recog- 
nized as  helpful  were  then  still  under  the  ban.  Brenne- 
man  both  because  of  his  early  training,  and  more 
liberal  spirit  and  superior  talents  favored  more  aggres- 
sive church  work.  The  strained  relations  between 
himself  and  a  majority  of  the  congregation,  which  re- 
sulted from  these  differences,  were  brought  to  a  head 
when  he  and  J.  Krupp,  a  fellow  minister,  went  to 
Canada  to  investigate  a  revival  which  had  broken  out 
among  the  Mennonites  at  that  place,  under  the  in- 
fluence of  one  Solomon  Eby,  a  Mennonite  preacher  at 
Berlin,  who  as  he  said  had  preached  for  thirteen  years 
before  he  had  been  converted.  Both  Krupp  and 
Brenneman  seemed  favorably  impressed  with  the  re- 
vival. Returning  to  Indiana,  they  were  closely  ques- 
tioned by  their  fellow  members  regarding  what  they 
had  seen.  Krupp,  upon  whom  the  revival  had  made 
a  deep  impression,  spoke  unreservedly  of  it  in  glowing 
terms.  Brenneman,  however,  knowing  that  protracted 
meetings  or  revivals  were  not  regarded  favorably  by 
either  the  Canadian  or  Indiana  Mennonites,  said  little, 
But  he  determined  to  go  to  Canada  a  second  time  for  a 
more  thorough  investigation.  During  his  absence, 
Krupp  in  the  meantime  by  his  unwise  conduct  and  too 
zealous  speech,  had  brought  the  displeasure  and  sus- 
picion of  the  conservative  elements  of  the  church  upon 
his  head,  and  had  been  expelled.  Brenneman  upon  his 
return  seemed  more  than  ever  impressed  with  the  Can- 
adian revival.  Finding  that  Krupp  had  been  expelled 
on  what  he  considered  insufficient  ground,  he  openly 
espoused  his  cause,  and  finding  that  the  differences 
between  himself  and  the  church  could  not  be  adjusted, 
practically    withdrew    from    the    organization.      Soon 


^12  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

^fter  this  the  congregation  formally  expelled  him  on 
the  following  charges : 

1.  For  leaving  the   church   and   supporting  an   excom- 
municated minister. 

2.  For  teaching  and  preaching  unscriptural  customs. 

3.  For  causing  dissensions  and  working  disorderly  at 
liome  and  abroad. 

Brenneman  and  his  friends  having  now  been  cast 
out  looked  about  for  another  church  with  which  they 
might  worship.  They  were  still  at  heart  Mennonites, 
however,  and  after  considering  respectively  the  Dunk- 
ards,  Quakers,  Evangelicals,  and  Free  Methodists  all 
of  whom  either  had  many  doctrines  in  common  with 
the  Mennonites  or  had  shown  Brenneman  some  kind- 
ness during  this  time  by  offering  him  the  use  of  theii 
meeting  houses  for  the  services  which  he  continued  to 
hold,  they  finally  decided  to  establish  a  separate  organ- 
ization. This  decision  was  carried  out  in  1874  when 
at  iEby's  meeting  house  in  Berlin,  Ontario,  they,  to- 
gether with  their  Canadian  sympathizers,  formed  the 
"Reformed  Mennonite"  church.  Of  course  by  the 
congregation  from  which  they  withdrew  they  were 
always  known  as  "Brennemanites."  In  doctrine  and 
religious  practices  the  new  organization  differed  little 
from  the  old,  except  that  they  manifested  a  greater 
zeal  for  the  propagation  of  their  views,  and  laid  greater 
stress  upon  "inner  experience"  and  the  necessity  of  a 
definite  "change  of  heart"  in  conversion. 

The  new  church  at  first  was  small  in  number, 
being  confined  to  Brenneman's  friends  of  the  Yellow 
Creek  congregation  and  Canada.  But  as  a  result  of 
their  zealous  missionary  spirit,  and  by  uniting  with 
several  other  small  offshoots  of  the  main  body,  it  has 


MENNONITES— NINETEENTH  CENTURY       313 

grown  to  a  church  of  no  mean  strength.  These  small 
bodies  had  arisen  under  similar  circumstances,  and 
having  much  in  common  in  spirit  and  religious  opinion 
they  finally,  one  after  another  united  their  forces. 

The  New  Mennonites  was  the  name  adopted  by  a 
small  group  of  Canadian  advocates  of  revivals,  who 
had  withdrawn  from  the  church  for  the  same  reasons 
as  had  the  Reformed  Mennonites. 

In  1875  in  the  Bloomingdale  meeting  house  in 
Waterloo  county,  Ontario,  these  two  branches  united 
into  one  society  under  the  name  of  the  United  Men- 
nonites. 

Some  time  before  this,  as  early  as  1853,  a  small 
division  under  the  leadership  of  William  Gehman  had 
been  made  in  Bucks  county,  Pennsylvania.  In  1879 
in  Ontario  this  branch  known  as  the  Evangelical 
Mennonites,  formed  with  the  United  Mennonites  a 
new  body  called  the  Evangelical  United  Mennonites. 

In  Ohio  near  Jamton,  in  1883,  these  Evangelical 
United  Mennonites  united  with  the  Brethren  in  Christ, 
a  small  branch  of  the  River  Brethren,  to  form  the 
church  now  called  the  Mennonite  Brethren  in  Christ. 

Thus  by  a  series  of  amalgamations  with  a  number 
of  these  small  bodies,  all  of  which  sprang  either  di- 
rectly or  indirectly  from  the  Old  Mennonite  church, 
the  original  socalled  "Brenneman"  organization  has 
developed  from  a  local  faction  to  an  institution  of 
considerable  size  and  influence.  With  these  unions 
there  have  come  slight  changes  in  both  the  doctrine 
and  practices  of  the  original  body.  The  Reformed 
Mennonites  differed  from  the  main  body  very  little. 
The  Mennonite  Brethren,  while  still  insisting  in  general 
upon  modest  attire,  have  let  up  a  little  on  their  restric- 


J14  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

tions  on  dress.  In  doctrine  they  maintain  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  the  Mennonite  faith — non-resist- 
.ance,  non-swearing  of  oaths,  opposition  to  secret  so- 
cieties, life  insurance,  etc.  But  in  several  respects  they 
have  developed  certain  differences.  They  baptize  by 
immersion  and  believe  strongly  in  "entire  sanctifica- 
tion,"  and  the  millennium.  They  are  quite  demon- 
strative in  their  worship,  and  their  camp  meetings 
have  lost  nothing  of  the  noise  and  excitement  of  those 
•of  the  old  time  shouting  Methodists. 


During  the  Civil  War 

In  the  North  during  the  Civil  war,  as  we  have 
.already  seen,  the  Mennonites  were  not  forced  to  serve 
in  the  army.  The  Conscription  Act  of 
Experiences  1864  provided  for  the  exemption  of  such 
in  the  North  as  were  conscientiously  scrupulous 
against  bearing  arms  if  they  were 
drafted,  by  a  payment  of  three  hundred  dollars.  A 
number  of  the  Mennonites  and  Amish  throughout  the 
country  were  struck  by  the  draft  in  1864.  Such  were 
compelled  to  appear  before  the  local  recruiting  officer 
.and  satisfy  him  that  they  were  members  in  good  stand- 
ing of  a  non-resistant  religious  organization  and  that 
they  were  conscientiously  opposed  to  the  bearing  of 
arms  and  that  their  conduct  had  been  consistent  with 
their  profession.  Usually  they  were  then  dismissed 
upon  the  payment  of  the  three  hundred  dollar  exemp- 
tion. 

Sometimes  this  exemption  was  the  source  of  ill- 
feeling  and  jealousy  among  those  who  lived   in  the 


MENNONITES— NINETEENTH  CENTURY      3lS 

same  communities  with  the  Mennonites,  and  who  felt 
that  the  latter  enjoyed  greater  privileges  than  they. 
In  Fulton  county,  Ohio,  on  one  occasion  while  a 
company  of  Amish  had  assembled  for  the  purpose  of 
securing  exemption,  they  were  attacked  by  a  mob  of 
men  some  of  whom  had  been  less  fortunate  than  they 
in  escaping  the  draft,  and  barely  escaped  serious  bodily- 
injury.     Such   occasions  however,   were  rare. 

In  the  South  the  Mennonites  did  not  escape  so 
easily.     Neither  Virginia  nor  the  Confederate  govern- 
ment were  as  liberal  toward  them  as 
The  Mennonites      was    the    North.      And    besides,    the 
of  the  South  Virginia   settlement  was   located   in 

the  very  heart  of  the  Shenandoah 
Valley,  the  scene  of  Sheridan's  raid.  The  experience 
of  the  Virginians  during  this  time  is  best  told  by 
Bishop  L.  J.  Heatwole  who  was  a  young  man  at  the 
time,  and  was  an  eyewitness  of  the  events  he  describes. 
The  following  sketch  was  prepared  by  him  for  Hartz- 
ler  and  Kauffman's  Mennonite  Church  History: 

With  the  beginning  of  this  period  (1861),  there  were  in 
the  Virginia  church  three  bishops:  John  Geil,  Sr.,  (Lower 
district);  Samuel  Coffman,  (Middle  district),  and  Jacob- 
Hildebrand,  (Upper  district);  twelve  ministers  and  six  dea- 
cons, with  a  membership  all  told  of  about  three  hundred' 
fifty.  In  the  three  districts  were  seven  meeting  houses,  in 
each  of  which  worship  was  held  once  every  four  weeks. 

For  a  number  of  years  prior  to  thfe  outbreak  of  the 
Civil  war,  the  state  of  Virginia  maintained  a  strict  military 
organization  known  as  the  State  Militia,  which  required  every 
able-bodied  man  in  the  state,  if  not  otherwise  exempted,  to 
attend  in  time  of  peace,  no  less  than  four  days'  drill  each 
year,  in  the  tactics  of  war.  The  exemption  laws,  as  they  were 
then  framed,  afforded  no  opportunity  for  our  brethren  to 
escape  this  service,  except  in  the  payment  of  the  minimum^ 
fine — 50  cents  for  absence  from  each  muster  drill.    With  but 


316  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

a  few  exceptions,  this  was  always  done  and  hence  our 
brethren  avoided  doing  violence  to  the  principle  of  non-re- 
sistance and  deliberately  ignored  each  call  as  it  was  made  to 
serve  in  the  muster  drills. 

But  with  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  the  military  laws 
became  a  far  greater  menace  to  the  brotherhood,  and  in  time 
proved  a  severe  test  of  their  loyalty  to  the  church.  First, 
there  came  the  call  for  all  the  Militia  to  take  the  field.  Such 
of  our  brethren  whose  names  were  on  the  muster  rolls  found 
themselves  no  longer  excusable  from  military  duty  by  pay- 
ing their  muster  fines,  but  had  to  go  into  the  ranks  or  be  dealt 
with  as  deserters. 

It  was  a  time  of  sore  distress  to  the  church.  What  were 
they  to  do  in  the  face  of  such  circumstances?  To  remain  at 
home  meant  sooner  or  later  to  be  taken  away  by  force  before 
a  court  martial  to  be  tried  and  shot.  To  go  voluntarily  into 
the  ranks  and  line  up  for  the  field  of  battle  would  be  treason 
to  the  church.  When  the  final  test  came,  a  few  of  the 
younger  brethren  went  into  the  army  with  the  first 
volunteers;  others  hid  themselves  away  in  the  mountains 
and  timbered  sections  of  the  country  and  made  frequent 
visits  to  their  families  under  cover  of  night;  while  others — 
along  with  such  as  were  drafted  into  service  later  in  the  fall 
of  1861 — were  taken  into  the  arm.y  under  protest  with  the 
understanding  among  themselves  and  their  families  at  home, 
that  neither  of  them  would  strike  a  blow  or  fire  a  gun. 
Though  these  brethren  were  with  the  regular  army  and  were 
in  action  near  Winchester,  and  before  Harper's  Ferry, 
they  proved  true  to  their  pledges,  and  in  conse- 
quence, a  number  of  them  were  soon  reported  to 
the  officers,  as  such  who  refused  to  shoot  when  the  order 
was  given  to  open  fire  on  the  enemy.  In  their  refusal  to  obey 
orders  on  this  point,  some  were  threatened  to  the  point  of 
being  court-martialed  and  shot;  this  threat  not  having  the 
effect  to  change  their  minds  in  the  least,  a  number  of  the  men 
found  themselves  detailed,  by  and  by,  as  cooks,  teamsters 
and  on  the  relief  corps,  to  attend  to  the  sick  and  wounded. 
When  the  army  lay  in  camp  it  was  a  custom  with  them  to 
meet  when  off  duty,  to  join  together  in  singing  some  of  the 
old   familiar  church  hymns  to  which  they  were  so  well  ac- 


MENNONITES— NINETEENTH  CENTURY       317- 

customed  when  at  home.  It  was  not  an  uncommon  thing  for 
the  soldiers  to  have  their  attention,  drawn  to  some  particular 
tent  or  corner  of  the  camp  where  a  number  of  earnest  voices 
were  joined  in  singing: — "O,  For  a  Closer  walk  with  God,"' 
or  "Am  I  a  Soldier  of  the  Cross,"  etc. 

During  the  winter  of  1861-62,  while  the  army  lay  in. 
winter  quarters  at  Winchester,  nearly  all  these  brethren-, 
found  their  way  back  to  their  homes,  but  with  the  opening 
of  the  campaign  of  1862,  there  came  the  general  call  from 
the  Confederate  government  for  every  man  between  the  ages- 
of  eighteen  and  forty-five  years  and  capable  of  bearing  arms,, 
to  go  to  the  front.  This  call  being  made  universal,  there  was 
no  avenue  of  escape  left,  and  to  respond  to  this  universal  call 
was  looked  upon  by  the  church  as  equivalent  to  volunteering 
for  military  service.  Owing  to  the  force  of  circumstances 
and  the  highly  exciting  nature  of  the  times,  some  of  the 
younger  brethren  responded  and  went  into  the  ranks.  Bishop 
Coffman,  however,  took  the  bold  stand  and  preached  his  con- 
victions from  the  pulpit  that  Mennonites  could  not  go  into  the 
army  and  at  the  same  time  be  loyal  to  their  church,  and  that 
our  people  must,  notwithstanding  their  opposition  to  slavery,, 
occupy    neutral    ground    in    the    present    crisis. 

From  this  time  on  was  the  real  crisis  for  the  Menno- 
nites. A  considerable  number  of  the  brethren  went  into  their 
former  custom  of  hiding  away  in  secluded  places;: 
others  continued  about  their  homes  as  usual.  Threats 
were  made  against  Bishop  Coffman  by  some  of 
the  military  authorities,  for  his  public  declarations,, 
one  certain  Colonel  having  sent  word  that  he  was- 
coming  with  his  regiment  to  take  Bishop  CofTman  and  all 
his  members,  capable  of  bearing  arms,  into  the  army;  there 
was,  of  course,  some  consternation  among  the  brotherhood- 
Brother  Coffman,  thinking  it  prudent  to  leave  the  state  for  a 
time,  passed  through  the  lines  safely  and  reached  the  com- 
munities of  our  people  in  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania,  where 
he  remained  until  the  feeling  against  him  at  home  had 
sufficiently  subsided  for  him  to  return  to   his   family. 

In  the  meantime,  quite  a  number  of  the  brethren,  to- 
gether with  a  number  of  their  sons  and  others,  who  were  not 
at  the  time  members  of  the  church,  to  the  number  of  about 


318  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

seventy  persons,  all  met  at  a  certain  rendezvous  ground  not 
far  from  the  mountains  where  they  decided  to  travel  together 
in  a  body  across  the  mountains  to  West  Virginia  to  Ohio 
and  other  states,  expecting  to  remain  there  as  refugees  until 
the  close  of  the  war.  The  ministers  who  remained  were  not 
molested,  but  some  of  the  brethren  who  yet  remained  in  hid- 
ing about  their  homes,  were  either  apprehended  on  surprise 
or  hunted  down  by  scouting  parties  of  the  provost-marshal 
and  were  taken  forcibly  into  the  army  or  confined  in  the 
county  jail  at  Harrisonburg.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  some 
of  the  brethren  who  were  yet  of  military  age,  remained  at 
their  homes  unmolested  through  all  this  trying  period,  while 
others,  who  were  known  to  be  in  hiding,  were  hunted  and 
chased  from  place  to  place  like  wild  beasts  of  the  forest — it 
was  those  who  had  been  taken  into  the  army  and  afterwards 
deserted,  that  were  made  thus  to  suffer — those  who  had 
managed  to  keep  out  of  the  ranks  from  the  beginning  of  the 
war,  had  not  nearly  so  much  trouble.  Those  who  managed 
to  elude  the  scouts  spent  their  time  at  camping  places  far  up 
in  the  mountains,  and  returned  occasionally  to  their  homes 
for  supplies.  Others  had  hiding  places  under  their  dwelling 
houses  that  were  reached  by  means  of  trap-doors  covered 
with  carpets  or  bedding  to  throw  the  searching  party  off  the 
trail,  and  several  instances  are  recalled  when  the  fugitive 
brother  lay  with  only  the  thickness  of  a  board  and  carpet 
between  himself  and  his  would-be  captors. 

The  company  of  seventy,  who  started  on  their  journey 
across  the  mountains  early  in  the  spring  of  1862,  were  sur- 
prised and  captured  by  a  squad  of  Confederate  cavalry,  near 
Petersburg,  West  Virginia,  on  the  second  day  after  leaving 
home.  They  were  immediately  marched  from  that  point 
some  sixty  miles  to  the  southeast  of  Staunton,  from  which 
place  they  were  sent  by  train  to  Richmond,  which  had  al- 
ready become  the  seat  of  the  Confederate  government. 
Here,  with  two  exceptions,  they  were  all  lodged  as  common 
prisoners  in  the  famous  Libby  Prison,  at  that  place.  These 
exceptions  were  twio  brethren  who  effected  their  escape,  and 
came  home  immediately  and  reported  the  fate  of  the  rest  of 
the  party.  Had  it  not  been  for  this,  it  might  not  have  been 
known  for  a  time  indefinite,  that  matters  had  taken  the  turn 


MENNONITES— NINETEENTH  CENTURY      319 

they  had,  and  besides  the  brethren  might  have  been  languish- 
ing in  prison  much  longer  than  they  did,  without  their  con- 
dition being  known  at  home. 

It  was  a  "serious  and  a  solemn  time,"  when  genuine 
and  earnest  supplication  was  made  to  God  for  help.  By  the 
time  the  excitement  and  intense  anxiety  caused  by  the  news 
of  the  capture  at  Petersburg,  had  sufficiently  subsided  at 
home,    the    members    came    together    for    calm   consultation. 

Officers  connected  with  the  Confederate  government  at 
Richmond,  who  were  known  to  have  some  acquaintance  with 
the  Mennonites  and  their  doctrine,  were  notified  of  the  con- 
dition of  things.  With  a  copy  of  the  Mennonite  Confession 
of  Faith  placed  in  their  hands,  these  officials  were  enabled 
to  impress  upon  the  Confederate  Congress  the  fact  that  the 
fathers  and  sons  of  our  people,  whom  they  were  then  holding 
as  prisoners,  were  far  from  being  enemies  to  the  government, 
but  were  a  peace-loving  people  and  that  the  only  motive  they 
had  for  leaving  their  homes  was  because  of  the  encroachment 
upon    their    religious    liberties. 

With  this  convincing  explanation,  the  Confederate 
Congress  was  moved  to  adopt  a  bill  that  led  to  the  release 
of,  not  only  the  Mennonites  who  were  in  prison,  but  also 
liberated  such  who  were  in  the  army  and  such  as  were  in 
hiding  near  their  homes.  This  bill  provided  that  all  people 
professing  the  peace  doctrine  as  part  of  their  religion,  such 
as  the  Mennonites,  Dunkards,  Quakers,  and  Nazarites,  resid- 
ing within  the  Confederate  States,  would  be  exempt  from 
military  duty  on  condition  that  each  male  member  of  such 
religious  bodies  who  was  subject  to  bear  arms,  should  pay 
into  the  treasury,  the  sum  of  five  hundred  dollars.  After  this 
bill  was  adopted  the  required  amount  was  made  up  as  soon 
as  possible,  a  brother  delegated  by  the  church  to  go  to 
Richmond  to  see  that  it  was  paid,  and  the  brethren  liberated 
from  a  confinement  that  had  already  been  prolonged  to  six 
weeks  in  a  prison  that  was  reeking  with  filth  and  vermin,  and 
a  ration  that  barely  kept  them  alive. 

The  unfeigned  joy  that  was  experienced  by  the  church 
over  the  home-coming  of  the  captive  brethren,  as  well  as  the 
happy  reunions  brought  about  in  the  restoration  of  the  others, 
who  had  been  in  the  army  or  in  hiding,  was  profoundly  deep 


320  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

and  sincere.  Their  unexpected  release  from  prison  and 
military  bondage  was  attributed  to  the  same  "Mighty  Hand" 
that  had  brought  Israel  of  old,  from  under  the  bondage  of 

Egypt One  unpleasant  feature  still  remained,  and 

that  feature  lay  in  the  fact  that  not  all  of  the  seventy  who 
were  captured  were  members  of  the  Mennonite  or  Dunkard 
Church  and  hence  could  not  be  released  from  prison  on  the 
payment  of  five  hundred  dollars  fine.  They  were,  however, 
liberated  from  confinement  on  condition  that  they  went 
immediately  into  the  army  as  conscript  soldiers.  The  fact 
that  they  were  about  all  either  sons  or  relatives  of  the 
brethren  who  were  exempted  did  not  count  for  anything  in 
their  case.  There  was  no  other  course  for  them  to  take  but 
to  go  into  the  army,  and  it  is  sad  to  relate  that  some  of  these 
poor  boys  never  again  reached  their  homes  alive.  After  serv- 
ing as  soldiers  for  a  time,  the  most  of  them,  however,  left  the 
army,  came  home,  and  spent  the  rest  of  the  war  period  either 
in  hiding  or  refugeeing  in  the  Northern  or  Western  states. 

During  the  next  eighteen  months  of  the  war,  the  Men- 
nonites,  as  a  rule,  were  left  undisturbed  on  their  farms,  ex- 
cept that  the  government  levied  heavily  upon  their  crops  for 
army  supplies.  The  commissary  wagons  came  with  un- 
pleasant frequency  to  haul  away  wheat,  corn  and  other 
supplies,  all  of  which  they  usually  took  without  leave  or 
license  or  a  cent  of  pay. 

In  the  summer  of  1864  the  war  cloud  again  settled  thick 
and  dark  over  the  Mennonite  homes  in  the  Shenandoah 
Valley.  With  the  suddenness  of  a  thunderclap  there  came 
from  the  seat  of  government  at  Richmond,  the  announcement 
that  the  substitute  Exemption  Law  was  abolished  and  that  all 
able-bodied  men  from  seventeen  to  sixty  years  of  age  were 
now  required  to  go  into  the  army.  This  of  course  started  off 
many  of  the  seventeen-year-old  boys  and  most  of  the  older 
brethren  to  hiding  again,  numbers  of  them  going  in  squads- 
of  three  and  four  across  the  mountains  into  West  Virginia 
and  Ohio  until  by  September  and  October,  the  exodus  of 
brethren  from  the  state  was  so  general  that  it  is  remembered 
as  the  time  when  the  Sunday  congregations  were  composed 
of  a  few  old  men,  the  younger  boys  and  the  women.  The 
meetings  at  this  time  are  remembered  as  being  made  all  the 


MENNONITES— NINETEENTH  CENTURY      321 

more  solemn  because  of  the  many  sad  and  weeping  faces  that 
were  seen  in  the  audience.  It  sometimes  happened  that  these 
meetings  were  seriously  disturbed  and  even  stampeded  by 
the  real  or  imaginary  approach  of  soldiers,  and  at  times  for 
a  period  indefinite  no  meetings  were  held  by  reason  of 
soldiers  being  quartered  on  the  grounds  and  occupying  the 
meeting  house  where  our  people  were  accustomed  to  meet 
for  worship. 

Then,  to  cap  the  climax,  there  came  the  never-to-be- 
forgotten  Sheridan's  raid  through  the  Shenandoah  Valley. 
From  the  evening  of  Oct.  6th,  1864,  to  the  morning  of  the 
8th  following,  nearly  all  the  barns  and  mills,  and  in  some 
cases  the  dwelling  houses  also,  were  set  on  fire  in  that  part 
of  Rockingham  county  where  the  Mennonites  were  located. 
These  buildings  being  burned,  together  with  their  stores  and 
provisions,  and  the  live  stock  driven  from  the  farms — the 
whole  country  being  overrun  by  troops  of  both  sides,  keeping 
up  a  desultory  warfare  between  them — with  the  fences 
obliterated  in  a  way  that  left  their  farms  a  desolate  waste. 
It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  quite  a  number  of  our  Men- 
nonite  families  and  nearly  all  the  sixteen  and  seventeen-year- 
old  boys  bade  farewell  to  the  hallowed  surroundings  of  the 
dear  places  they  used  to  call  home,  and  rather  than  to  longer 
bear  the  hardships  of  a  war-ridden  country,  took  the  oppor- 
tunity to  remove  to  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio  under  the  protec- 
tion of  Sheridan's  army  as  it  marched  northward  in  October, 
1864. 

Before  the  hard,  cold  winter  of  1864-65  had  fully  set  in, 
those  of  our  people  who  remained  at  their  homes  managed 
to  provide  some  shelter  and  to  divide  with  one  another  the 
scanty  supplies  that  remained  for  them.  There  was  perhaps, 
never  a  time  before  this  that  Mennonites  in  America  had 
things  more  "in  common"  than  during  the  war  period  of  1864- 
65.  Every  possible  article  of  wearing  apparel  had  to  be  manu- 
factured at  home — no  leather  to  make  shoes  except  that 
which  was  tanned  at  home;  no  hats  were  worn  except  the 
home-made  article;  no  sugar  or  salt  or  pepper  or  spices  to 
season  food  with;  no  coffee,  except  such  as  was  made  from 
parched  wheat  or  rye.     Upon  the  whole,  it  was  like  going 


322  MENNONITES    OF   AMERICA 

back  to  the  purely  primitive  life  of  the  grandfathers  of  a 
hundred  years  before. 

The  citing  of  a  few  instances,  with  reference  to  the  try- 
ing experiences  of  such  of  the  brethren  who  were  in  hiding,, 
may  not  come  amiss  before  closing  this  chapter. 

A  certain  brother  who  had  spent  much  of  his  time  hid- 
ing away  from  the  observation  of  the  military  officials,  was- 
accused,  not  only  as  a  fugitive  from  the  ranks  of  the  army, 
but  also  for  rendering  aid  to  others  and  acting  as  guide  to 
some  of  the  numerous  squads  of  refugees  that  were  finding 
their  way  across  the  mountains  to  the  Federal  lines.  By 
some  means  it  became  known  to  the  military  authorities  that 
he  was  at  home  on  a  certain  night  when  some  soldiers  were 
sent  out  with  the  order  that  he  be  shot  on  sight.  The 
soldiers  approached  and  surrounded  the  house  in  the  dead 
hour  of  the  night.  Calling  him  to  the  door,  he  was  told  that 
they  were  there  with  orders  to  kill  him.  He  coolly  replied  that 
before  doing  that,  they  would  certainly  give  him  time  to  bid- 
farewell  to  his  family  and  also  to  write  his  will.  This  being 
granted,  he  waked  his  wife  and  a  number  of  children,  and 
after  telling  what  the  soldiers  were  there  for,  sat  down  in 
perfect  composure  to  write  his  will.  As  he  proceeded  with, 
the  writing,  he  suggested  to  one  of  the  soldiers  that  his 
neighbor  would  be  needed  to  sign  the  paper  as  witness.. 
While  the  messenger  was  gone  to  bring  in  the  neighbor,  the 
brother's  personal  coolness,  together  with  the  pathetic  atti- 
tude of  the  family,  so  operated  upon  the  minds  of  the  soldiers 
that  they  left  their  intended  victim  unharmed  and  made  a 
hasty  departure. 

Another  brother  had  repeatedly  been  searched  for  by 
detachments  of  the  provost-marshal's  guards,  but  in  each 
case  he  managed  to  elude  them.  Finding  that  he  was  no 
longer  safe  at  or  near  his  home,  he  went  back  into  the 
mountains  where  he  spent  many  days  in  a  solitary  cabin  all' 
alone.  By  some  unknown  means  his  hiding  place  was  located' 
by  the  provost-marshal  and  several  soldiers  were  sent  to 
capture  him.  The  soldiers  were  already  more  than  half  way 
on  the  road  to  his  camp,  when  they  were  seen  by  a  near 
family  relative,  who,  surmising  what  their  errand  was,  him- 
self started  off  at  full  speed  and  like  Ahimaaz,  who  outran' 


MENNONITES— NINETEENTH  CENTURY      323 

Kushi,  he  outstripped  the  marshal's  guard  and  reached  our 
brother's  place  of  concealment  just  in  time  for  him  to  save 
himself  by  flight.  But  as  there  was  snow  on  the  ground  at 
the  time,  he  was  easily  followed  by  his  pursuers.  After 
going  some  distance  up  a  mountain  ravine,  he  performed  the 
feat  of  climbing  to  the  top  of  a  high  mountain,  walking 
backward  in  the  snow  and  by  this  means  succeeded  in  throw- 
ing his  would-be  captors  off  his  trail.  The  first  night  of  his 
flight  he  spent  at  a  cold  and  cheerless  place  under  a  spruce 
tree,  fifteen  miles  or  more  away  from  the  haunts  of  civiliza- 
tion. Fearing  to  come  back  to  his  home,  or  even  to  his 
cabin  in  the  lonely  mountain  glen,  he  traveled  on  westward 
for  several  days,  until  he  reached  the  eastern  slope  of  the 
Allegheny  mountains.  Finding  himself  among  a  people 
who  treated  him  with  great  kindness,  he  made  his  home 
among  them.  From  him  these  people  soon  learned  some- 
thing of  the  doctrine  taught  by  the  Mennonites,  and  by 
■means  of  a  copy  of  the  Confession  of  Faith,  which  he  had 
with  him,  they  became  greatly  interested  in  the  peace  doc- 
trine taught  by  the  church.  It  only  remains  for  us  to  add  that 
the  very  means  that  served  to  drive  this  brother  across  the 
•mountains  as  a  fugitive  from  military  service,  has  resulted 
ultimately  in  the  establishing  of  a  church  and  the  building 
of  the  first  meeting  house  in  the  state  of  West  Virginia. 


CHAPTER   XII 


THE  IMMIGRATION  FROM  RUSSIA 


The  Mennonites  of  Europe  during  the  eighteenth 
century  were  everywhere  recognized  as  an  industrious 
and  thrifty  people.  Peter  the  Great  first 
Catherine's  came  into  contact  with  them  at  Zaandam 
Invitation  while  serving  his  ship-building  appren- 
ticeship in  Holland,  and  while  there  se- 
lected one  of  their  number  as  his  private  physician. 
In  1786  Catharine  the  Great,  desiring  to  build  up  the 
waste  lands  of  Southern  Russia,  invited  the  Mennon- 
ites of  Prussia  to  locate  on  her  crown  lands  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Dnieper,  in  the  province  of  Jekater- 
inoslav.  As  an  inducement  to  immigration  she  prom- 
ised them  free  transportation,  free  lands,  religious 
toleration  and  freedom  from  military  service.  Al- 
though denied  passports  by  the  Prussian  government, 
many  of  them  accepted  these  terms  and  established 
a  colony  among  the  wooded  hills  along  the  lower 
Dnieper,  not  far  from  the  town  of  Jekaterinoslav.  By 
1788  about  two  hundred  families  had  settled  in  this 
region. 

In  1796  Catherine  died  and  the  new  colonists,  fear- 


IMMIGRATION  FROM  RUSSIA  325 

ing  lest  her  successor,  Paul  I,  might  forget  the  prom- 
ises of  his  mother  to  them,  sent 
Charter  of  Paul  I  two  men  to  St.  Petersburg  to  ask 
that  Catherine's  concessions  might 
be  continued.  These  men  secured  from  the  Czar  in 
1800  a  charter  of  privileges  which  is  still  preserved  in 
a  fire  proof  building  at  Chortitz.  Paul,  not  only  re- 
newed his  mother's  promises,  but  in  order  to  en- 
courage further  immigration  he  oflFered  them  even 
added  privileges.  The  most  important  provisions  of 
the  charter  were : 


1.  Religious  toleration. 

2.  Exemption  from  military  service. 

3.  The  substitution  of  the  affirmation  for  the  oath. 

4.  Sixty-five    dessatin    of    free,    arable    land    for    each 
family. 

5.  Freedom   from   taxation   for  ten  years. 

6.  The   right    to    fish,    and    to   establish    distilleries,    of 
which  they  were  to  have  a  monopoly  within  their  settlement. 

7.  Freedom    from    the    quartering    of    soldiers    among 
them. 


As  a  result  of  these  privileges  the  emigration 
fever  again  seized  the  Prussians.  The  first  colony 
had  been  made  up  largely  of  the  poorer  people,  but 
now  even  many  of  the  well-to-do  decided  to  emigrate 
to  Russia.  The  lands  offered  them  were  on  the  tree- 
less plains  of  Taurien,  some  distance  east  of  the  old 
colony.  The  first  settlers  came  in  1803  and  located 
on  the  river  Molotchna,  not  far  from  w^here  the  stream 
enters  the  Azov.  During  the  first  two  years  three  hun- 
dred and  four  families  found  their  way  to  the  new 
settlement.  Others  came  during  the  succeeding  years 
and  by  1836  the  entire  population  of  the  Molotchna 


326  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

colony  was  estimated  at  ten  thousand,  grouped  into 
forty-six  villages. 

In  addition  to  these  two  colonies  another  was  es- 
tablished in  1860  in  Crimea,  largely  by  settlers  from 
the  Molotchna  community. 

In  the  meantime  many  other  Germans  besides 
the  Mennonites  had  also  settled  in  these  regions.     It 

is  estimated  that  by  1870  there  were 
The  Germans  several  millions  of  Germans  in  South- 
in  Russia  ern  Russia.    The  Mennonites  of  course 

constituted  only  a  small  portion  of 
this  entire  number,  perhaps  between  thirty  and  forty 
thousand.  These  Germans  had  settled  in  villages  as 
the  first  occupants  of  the  soil  and  thus  they  still  kept 
up  their  German  customs  and  habits,  and  spoke  the 
language  of  the  Fatherland,  and  maintained  their 
various  forms  of  religious  worship.  They  were  thrif- 
ty, and  many  had  grown  rich.  None  were  more  pros- 
perous than  the  Mennonites.  An  American  traveler, 
passing  through  these  Mennonite  villages  in  1874 
speaks  as  follows  : — 

The  dwelling  houses  were  large  brick  structures  with 
tile  roofs,  a  flower  garden  between  the  street  and  the  house 
and  well  kept  vegetable  garden  and  orchard  in  the  rear.  The 
stables  with  splendid  work  horses  of  every  build,  and  the 
sheds  with  vehicles  of  every  description,  among  them  family 
coaches  and  all  kinds  of  farming  machinery.  They  were 
certainly  the  best  appointed  farming  communities  I  had  seen 
anywhere.  Scattered  over  the  country  were  large,  isolated 
estates,  with  buildings  reminding  one  of  the  feudal  baronial 
castles  of  Western  Europe.  Their  owners  were  millionaire 
Mennonites,  who  had  acquired  large  tracts  of  land  by  private 
purchase.  I  was  entertained  by  one  of  them,  who  had  the 
reputation  of  being  the  largest  sheep  owner  in  Europe. 
When  I  asked  how  many  sheep  he  owned  he  could  not  tell. 


IMMIGRATION  FROM   RUSSIA  327 

but  said  he  had  three  thousand  shepherd  dogs  taking  care  of 
his  flock.  A  little  figuring  developed  that  he  owned  over  a 
million  sheep,  scattered  in  flocks  all  along  the  coast  of  the 
Black  Sea.i 

This  prosperity,  together  with  the  exclusiveness 
of  the  German  colonists,  engendered  on  the  part  of 
the  native  Russians  a  strong  feeling  of  jealousy  and 
suspicion  against  them.  This  feeling  was  intensified 
by  the  special  religious  and  political  privileges  which 
had  been  granted  them  at  the  time  of  their  immigra- 
tion into  the  Empire.  For  in  addition  to  the  military 
exemption  enjoyed  by  the  Mennonites,  all  Germans 
were  still  more  or  less  under  the  political  guardian- 
ship of  Prussia  from  which  state  most  of  them  had 
come,  and  thus  enjoyed  certain  privileges  denied  the 
native  Russians. 

And  so  the  Russian  government  was  importuned 
to  withdraw  these  privileges.  As  a  result  of  this 
pressure  it  soon  became  evident  that 
Withdrawal  of  the  Czar  intended  to  Russianize  his 
Privileges  German   subjects  as   soon  as  possible. 

As  early  as  1869  it  was  rumored  that  a 
new  treaty  was  to  be  made  with  Prussia  regarding  the 
rights  of  the  Germans.  During  the  Franco-Prussian  war 
it  was  agreed  between  the  Czar  and  Bismarck  that  the 
newly  created  German  government  should  withdraw 
its  political  guardianship  over  the  Germans  in  Russia 
on  the  condition  that  all  Germans  who  did  not  wish  to 
become  full-fledged  Russian  subjects  might  be  given 
ten  years  in  which  to  dispose  of  their  property  and 


C.  B.  Schmidt :  Reminiscences  of  Foreign  Immigration  Work.  An 
address  at  the  fourth  annual  convention  of  the  Colorado  State 
Realty   Association.      Held   at    Colorado   Springs,   June   20-23,    1901. 


328  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

emigrate  to  some  other  country.  This  international 
agreement  was  received  by  all  the  Germans  with  dis- 
favor, and  by  the  Mennonites  with  consternation.  To 
the  latter  it  meant  not  only  that  their  children  must 
now  be  educated  in  Russian  schools,  but  their  young 
men  must  now  also  enter  the  Russian  army,  for  at  the 
same  time  it  was  also  rumored  that  universal  military 
service  was  to  be  established.  Several  delegations 
were  sent  to  St.  Petersburg  for  the  purpose  of  secur- 
ing military  exemption  in  the  proposed  law,  but  noth- 
ing was  accomplished. 

Nothing  seemed  to  be  left  for  the  Mennonites  now 
but  either  to  violate  their  non-resistant  principles,  or 

leave  for  some  other  land  where  they 
Looking  for  might  still  enjoy  the  freedom  of  their 
a  New  Home       religious    convictions.      Many    decided 

upon  the  latter  alternative.  But  where 
were  they  to  go?  Some  suggested  Africa;  others 
Australia.  A  delegation  was  sent  to  Siberia  to  hunt 
for  a  suitable  place  for  a  colony  and  a  small  colony 
actually  set  out  for  that  country.  Of  all  the  places 
suggested,  however,  America  seemed  the  most  prom- 
ising- Here  were  many  of  their  own  faith  who,  cen- 
turies before,  had  come  for  the  same  purpose.  Here 
also  was  still  much  raw  land  where  large  communities 
might  be  established  on  the  plan  of  their  native  Russ- 
ian villages.  Here  also  they  could  enjoy  freedom  of 
religious  opinion.  But  with  all  of  these  advantages 
there  were  misgivings  in  the  minds  of  many  to  whom 
America  still  meant  little  more  than  an  asylum  for 
European  convicts,  and  the  haunt  of  untutored  sav- 
ages. In  the  language  of  one  who  later  became  a 
leader  in  the  emigration  to  the  West,  America  was  a 


IMMIGRATION   FROM   RUSSIA  Z29 

country  "interesting-  for  the  adventurer,  an  asylum  for 
convicts.  How  could  one  think  of  finding  a  home  in 
peace  under  his  vine  and  figtree  among  such  and  other 
like  people  in  addition  to  the  wild  natives."^ 

In  the  meantime  several  families  already  began 
to  leave  for  America.  In  1870  and  1871  several  indi- 
vidual travelers  made  inspection  tours 
Delegation  through  the  country.  In  1872  a  small 
to  America  delegation,  among  whom  was  Bernhard 
Warkentin,  who  later  took  an  active  part 
in  the  emigration  movement,  reached  the  Mennonite 
congregation  at  Summerfield,  Illinois.  From  here 
they  were  directed  to  the  western  states  as  best  suited 
for  colonization.  The  Russians  were  becoming  more 
and  more  restless,  and  in  1873  another  delegation 
reached  America  for  the  purpose  of  looking  up  a  good 
location  for  a  large  colony.  This  committee  was 
composed  of  twelve  men  from  Russia  and  West 
Prussia.  Their  names  were  Jacob  Buller,  Leonard 
Suderman,  William  Ewert,  Andreas  Schrag,  Jacob 
Buller,  Tobias  Unruh,  Jacob  Peters,  Heinrich  Wiebe, 
Cornelius  Buhr,  Cornelius  Toews,  David  Classen, 
Paul  Tschetter  and  Lawrence  Tschetter. 

Accompanied  by  John  F.  Funk  of  Elkhart,  Indi- 
ana, and  J.  Y.  Schantz  of  Berlin,  Ontario,  this  delega- 
tion proceeded  on  an  inspection  tour  down  the  Red 
River  valley  through  Dakota  and  Manitoba.  Here 
were  still  large  tracts  of  raw  prairie  land  to  be  had 
almost  for  the  asking.  They  were  best  pleased  with 
the  region  south  of  Winnipeg  and  here  is  where  a  few 
years  later  the  largest  settlement  was  made.  From 
here  the  committee  also  visited  Minnesota,  Nebraska 


2.     Leonard  Suderman, 


330  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

and  Kansas,  and  several  members  also  went  to  Texas. 
In  the  meantime  the  western  fever  had  also  taken 
hold  of  a  number  of  members  of  the  Summerfield, 
Illinois,  congregation.  As  early  as  1871  a  small  group 
of  men  under  the  direction  of  Christian  Krehbiel,  had 
visited  Kansas  with  a  view  to  planting  a  colony  of  their 
own  in  that  or  some  other  western  state.  And  so 
such  Russian  home-seekers  as  came  under  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Summerfield  congregation  were  directed 
to  that  region.  Many  of  them  later  settled  in  this  state 
and  in  Nebraska. 

When  it  became  known  that  there  was  a  proba- 
bility of  a  large  immigration  of  industrious  Europeans 

to  these  western  regions,  various  induce- 
Americans  ments  to  settlement  were  offered  them 
Interested        by  such  agencies  as  were  interested  in 

having  these  lands  occupied.  The  Can- 
adian government  through  its  agent  at  Winnipeg 
offered  large  tracts  of  cheap  lands  and  freedom  of 
conscience.  In  Kansas,  the  Atchison,  Topeka  and 
Santa  Fe  Railroad,  which  was  built  about  this  time, 
offered  railroad  land  at  two  and  one  half  dollars  per 
acre.  So  determined  was  this  railroad  company  to  get 
these  immigrants  for  Kansas  that  in  1875  it  sent  a 
special  agent  to  Russia  for  the  purpose  of  influencing 
the  Mennonites  who  expected  to  emigrate,  to  locate 
upon  its  lands.  Other  roads  in  Nebraska  and  Minne- 
sota seemed  equally  bent  on  selling  their  lands,  but 
none  of  these  sent  special  representatives  to  Russia. 

In  the  meantime  the  delegation  which  had  visited 
these  regions  dnring  the  summer  of  1873  had  returned 
home  and  made  such  a  favorable  report  of  what  they 
had  seen  that  many  of  the  Russians  prepared  to  leave 


IMMIGRATION   FROM   RUSSIA  331 

for  America  immediately.  Many  sold  their  property^ 
always  at  a  loss,  and  applied  to  the  government  for 
free  passes  for  emigration. 

But  the  Czar,  now  upon  hearing  the  rumor  of  the 
intended  emigration,  regretted  the  prospect  of  losing 
so  many  of  his  most  thrifty  people. 
Von  Todtleben  and  sent  a  member  of  his  ministry,  von 
Todtleben,  as  a  special  agent  among 
the  Mennonite  colonies  to  persuade  them  not  to  leave 
the  country.  Von  Todtleben  dwelt  upon  the  hardships 
of  the  long  voyage  to  America  and  promised  the  Men- 
nonites  certain  exemptions  from  military  service  in  the 
proposed  new  military  law.  This  exception  in  favor 
of  the  Mennonites  as  it  finally  appeared  is  as  follows : 

The  Mennonites  who  shall  be  called  out  for  military  service 
shall  be  assigned  to  duty  only  at  other  places  than  at  the 
front,  as  in  hospitals,  in  military  works  and  similar  establish- 
ments, and  are  exempt  from  bearing  arms.  This  provision, 
however,  shall  not  include  such  Mennonites,  who  shall  unite 
with  the  church  after  the  new  military  law  shall  have  come 
into  force  or  such  as  shall  come  into  the  Russian  Empire 
from  any  foreign  country.^ 

The  majority  of  the  Mennonites  accepted  these 
conditions  and  remained  in  their  native  land,  and  these 
selected  the  forestry  service  in  lieu  of  the  military 
service,  which  was  soon  demanded  of  all  the  young 
men  of  Russia. 

To  a  large  minority,  however,  the  promises  made 
by  von  Todtleben  were  not  convincing.  To  this  class 
belonged  many  of  the  more  scrupulous  and  some  of 
the  poorer  families.    To  these,  forestry  service  seemed 


3.     Isaac    Peters,   in   Herald   of   Truth. 


332  MENNONITES    OF   AMERICA 

little  better  than  military  service.    Their  point  of  view 
is  best  expressed  in  the  words  of  one  of  their  number: 

Although  the  forestry  service  in  and  of  itself  embodied 
nothing  that  can  be  called  contrary  to  the  Scriptures,  it 
nevertheless  always  means  or  stands  for  military  service  on 
the  statute  books  and  is  not  consistent  with  our  non-re- 
sistant confession,  since  this  always  implies  alliance  or  con- 
nection with  military  life  and  affairs,  where  the  soldier  is 
taken  and  trained  and  is  subject  to  the  army  officials  yoked 
together  with  them  and  the  profession  they  represent.  Be- 
sides this,  the  forestry  service  is  for  the  present  limited  to 
twenty  years,  and  thus  the  government  keeps  the  back  door 
open  for  the  introduction  of  new  things  at  any  time,  and 
perhaps  assign  the  soldiers  at  any  time  to  service  in  any  of 
the  branches  named  in  the  provisory  clauses  of  the  new  mili- 
tary law,  all  of  which  are  designed  to  foster  war.* 

And  so  the  preparations  for  departure  continued 
in  many  of  the  villages.  Although  a  few  individuals 
had  already  crossed  to  this  country  during  1872  and 
1873,  the  general  breaking  up  of  the  Russian  settle- 
ments did  not  begin  until  the  summer  of  1874.  In 
both  colonies,  the  Molotchna  and  the  old  colony,  many 
sold  all  their  possessions  and  secured  their  passports. 
In  some  cases  whole  villages  emigrated  bodily  to  the 
new  country.  In  others  only  a  few  members  left  their 
native  homes.  But  everywhere  the  emigration  fever 
had  seized  the  people. 

Although  the  great  exodus  from  the  two  largest 
colonies  did  not  begin  until  early  in  the  summer  of 

1874,  several  families  had  arrived 
Exodus  of  1874        here  in  the  fall  of  1873  and  began 

settlements  in  Kansas,  Dakota  and 
Minnesota.    From  the  files  of  the  Herald  of  Truth  we 


4.     Isaac    Peters,    in   Herald    of   Truth. 


IMMIGRATION   FROM   RUSSIA  33J 

learn  that  by  January,  1874,  there  were  ten  or  twelve 
families  near  Mountain  Lake,  Minnesota,  and  several 
families  in  Marion  and  McPherson  counties,  Kansas. 
In  the  same  issue  it  is  announced  that  one  thousand 
families  are  to  start  for  America  in  April.  B}'-  May  the 
stream  had  begun.  The  issue  of  the  Herald  for  May 
5,  announces  the  arrival  of  fifty-eight  Mennonites  from 
Poland.  By  May  20,  fifty  more  Poles  under  the  leader- 
ship of  Andreas  Schrag  have  arrived  and  located  near 
Yankton,  Dakota.  By  June  forty  more  from  the  same 
place  were  brought  by  William  Ewert  to  Summerfield,. 
from  which  place  they  soon  after  went  to  their  new 
homes  in  Kansas.  On  July  8,  seven  more  families 
stopped  at  Summerfield  enroute  to  Kansas.  And  so 
they  continued  to  come  in  an  increasing  stream 
throughout  the  summer. 

In  the  meantime  this  expected  exodus  of  Russian 
Mennonites  to  America  was  not     awaited  by  their 

brethren  here  without  interest 
American  Mennonites  and  some  anxiety  as  to  how 
Aid  Immigrants  they     were      to      provide      for 

them.  As  soon  as  it  was  known 
that  they  would  come  in  large  numbers,  steps  were 
taken  to  furnish  them  with  such  money  and  care  as 
might  be  necessary  to  settle  them  in  their  western 
homes.  For  many  of  the  new  arrivals  were  not  rich. 
Some  were  poor  to  begin  with.  The  expenses  of 
transporting  entire  families  were  heavy.  Such  as  had 
property  in  Russia  had  to  dispose  of  it  at  a  loss  and  so^ 
very  few  of  them  were  left  rich  when  they  arrived  at 
their  new  homes. 

In  1873  the  western  conference  of  the  General 
Conference  Mennonites,  under  the  influence  of  Chris- 


334  MENNONITES    OF   AMERICA 

tian  Krehbiel  had  appointed  a  committee  to  collect 
money  for  such  of  the  immigrants  as  might  need  help, 
and  to  direct  them  to  their  new  homes.  About  the 
same  time  a  similar  organization  was  effected  under 
the  influence  of  John  F.  Funk  among  the  Old  Men- 
nonites  of  the  middle  west.  These  two  movements 
were  soon  consolidated  into  the  Mennonite  Board  of 
Guardians,  with  Christian  Krehbiel  as  president; 
David  Goerz  (an  immigrant),  as  secretary;  John  F. 
Funk,  treasurer;  and  B.  Warkentin  (an  immigrant), 
agent.  The  Mennonites  of  Eastern  Pennsylvania  or- 
ganized the  Mennonite  Executive  Aid  Committee,  and 
the  Canadian  church  under  the  leadership  of  J.  Y. 
Schantz,  of  Berlin,  Ontario,  also  appointed  a  com- 
mittee. All  of  these  organizations  did  valuable  ser- 
vice in  providing  for  the  needs  and  the  conveniences 
of  the  Russians  while  they  were  becoming  settled.  It 
is  estimated  that  a  total  of  about  $100,000  was  collected 
and  expended  in  this  work.  In  addition  to  this  sum, 
there  were  many  individual  loans,  and  in  Manitoba  the 
Canadian  government  loaned  the  settlers  of  that  re- 
gion a  sum  of  $96,000  at  six  per  cent  interest  upon 
securities  furnished  by  the  Mennonites  of  Ontario. 
Within  twenty  years  almost  all  the  money  loaned  tO' 
the  Russians  both  in  Manitoba  and  in  the  United 
States  was  paid  back  by  them. 

Aided  and  directed  by  these  organizations,  the 
immigrants  continued  to  find  their  way  to  the  western 
settlements  by  the  hundreds  throughout  the  summer 
and  autumn  of  1874.  The  Herald  reports  that  on 
July  18,  eighty  families  had  reached  Burlington,  Iowa, 
enroute  to  Nebraska.  July  19,  thirty  arrived  at  ,Elk- 
hart,  Indiana,  where  they  remained  for  the  night  in  the 


IMMIGRATION   FROM   RUSSIA  335 

Mennonite  meeting  house  at  that  place,  and  the  next 
day  left — some  for  Kansas,  others  for  Yankton, 
Dakota.  The  total  number  of  arrivals  at  the  harbor 
of  New  York  by  July  18,  was  six  hundred.  In  the 
meantime  many  had  arrived  at  Toronto,  Canada.  On 
July  20,  three  hundred  and  seventy  are  reported,  and 
on  July  30,  two  hundred  and  ninety  more.  The  next 
day  five  hundred  and  four  left  for  Manitoba.  And 
thus  they  continued  to  come  in  a  steady  stream 
throughout  all  the  summer  and  fall.  A  report  made 
in  November,  1874,  shows  that  the  Mennonite  Board 
of  Guardians  reported  from  the  Inman  line  the 
arrival  of  two  hundred  families.  The  Pennsylvania 
Aid  Committee  reported  thirty-five  families  from  the 
Red  Star  line  and  three  hundred  and  eighty-six 
families  on  the  Hamburg  line.  The  Canadian  com- 
mittee reported  the  arrival  of  two  hundred  and  thirty 
by  way  of  the  Allan  line  for  the  year.  The  total 
estimate  for  the  year  was  about  twelve  hundred 
families  with  the  prospect  that  at  least  a  thousand 
more  families  were  preparing  to  come  during  the 
following  year.  And  the  year  1875  saw  no  less  come 
across  than  the  previous  year.  Whole  vessels  were 
chartered  by  the  immigrants.  In  December,  1874, 
seven  hundred  had  arrived  in  the  "Fatherland,"  and 
four  hundred  in  the  "Abbotsford."  On  July  25,  1875, 
the  "Netherlands"  steamed  up  to  the  dock  at  New 
York  with  five  hundred  and  fifty  Mennonites  on 
board.  And  soon  after  the  "Nevada"  unloaded  five 
hundred  and  seventy.  By  the  fall  of  1875  the  greatest 
rush  was  over,  but  they  continued  to  come  in  small 
bands  up  to  1880.  In  August,  1879,  it  was  estimated 
that  in  Manitoba  alone,  which  was  however  the  largest 


336  MENNONPTES    OF    AMERICA 

settlement,  there  were  seven  thousand  three  hundred 
and  eighty-three  Mennonites.^  Perhaps  nearly  an 
equal  number  came  to  all  the  other  settlements  com- 
bined— Kansas,  Nebraska,  Dakota  and  Minnesota. 
No  reliable  statistics  are  at  hand  at  present  regarding 
the  present  number  in  these  various  settlements,  but 
it  would  be  safe  to  place  the  estimate  at  more  than 
double  that  of  the  above  number. 

In  the  meantime  a  number  of  Mennonites  from 
West  Prussia  also  emigrated  at  this  time  to  America. 
These  located  in  Harvey  and  Butler  counties,  Kansas. 

As  we  have  seen,  the  first  settlers  in  1873  located 
near  Alountain  Lake,  Minnesota,  and  in  Dakota  and 
Kansas.  Soon  after  in  Manitoba  two  col- 
Settlement  in  onies  were  established,  one  twenty-five 
Manitoba  miles  south  of  Winnepeg  and  the  other 

about  eighty  miles  south.  To  the  for- 
mer the  Canadian  government  granted  a  reserve  of 
eight  townships ;  to  the  latter,  a  reserve  of  seven- 
teen townships.  Here,  on  the  raw  prairie,  se- 
cluded from  the  outside  world,  they  were  at 
liberty  to  establish  such  forms  of  religion  and, 
within  certain  limits,  such  civil  government  as  they 
wished.  The  Manitoba  settlers  were  principally  from 
the  old  colony  in  Russia,  which  was  more  conserva- 
tive than  the  other  settlement.  These  immigrants 
from  the  latter  colony  settled  principally  in  Kansas. 
Naturally  the  colonists  built  up  such  civil  and  relig- 
ious institutions  as  they  were  accustomed  to  in  their 
native  land.  They  grouped  themselves  over  their 
vast  reserves  in  small  villages,  containing  from  live 
to  thirty  families  each.    These  villages  were  scattered 


5.     See    Herald    of    Truth,    January,    1877,    and    August,    1879. 


IMMIGRATION   FROM   RUSSIA  337 

irregularly  over  the  reserve,  and  sometimes  two  or 
three  were  built  quite  close  together,  and  then  again 
sometimes  there  were  long  distances  between  them. 
Their  houses  the  first  year  were  dug  half  in  the  earth, 
for  the  nearest  timber  was  ten  to  twenty  miles  away, 
but  later  were  made  of  oak  logs,  covered  with  prairie 
grass.  A  traveler  passing  through  the  colony  in  1877 
describes  one  of  these  villages  in  the  "Pembina" 
settlement  which  at  that  time  contained  twenty-five 
villages,  occupied  by  four  hundred  and  eighty-five 
families. 

The  houses  are  built  on  both  sides  of  the  street,  about 
one  hundred  feet  back  from  the  street,  giving  ample  space 
for  trees,  flowers,  etc.,  between  the  houses  and  the  streets. 
The  houses  are  built  on  a  line  with  the  street  about  two 
hundred  feet  apart,  and  all  with  the  gable  end  toward  the 
street,  giving  them  a  regular  and  handsome  appearance.  In 
this  colony  they  have  erected  a  building  for  a  steam  mill, 
and  expect  to  have  it  all  completed  yet  this  fall  with  two 
run  of  stones.  This  mill  is  situated  within  two  miles  of  the 
timber. 6 

According  to  another  writer  there  was  frequently 
a  mill  and  nearly  always  a  blacksmith  shop  in  every 
village.  In  addition  there  was  also  the  village  school 
house  which  sometimes 

is  used  as  a  place  of  worship  and  this  sometimes  has  extra 
rooms  in  which  a  teacher  resides.  In  the  larger  villages  they 
have  separate  buildings  for  religious  service.  These  meeting 
houses  are  usually  very  plain  buildings  and  the  roofs,  like 
some   of  their   dwellings,   are   thatched  with   straw.'' 

These    settlements    also    furnish    an    interesting 


6.  J.  Y.  Schantz,  in  Herald  of  Truth,  December,  1877. 

7.  Family  Almanac,   1896. 


338  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

study  in  the  religious  and  civil  government  of  their 
native  Russian  Mennonite  village,  for  on 
Government  the  raw  prairies  of  Manitoba  they  vv^ere 
of  Colony  left  almost  entirely  free  to  institute  such 
local  form  of  government  as  they  might 
choose.  Naturally  they  reproduced  as  nearly  as  their 
new  environment  would  permit  such  institutions  as 
they  were  familiar  with.  As  is  always  the  case  with  a 
religious  people  when  they  are  given  an  opportunity 
to  form  their  own  civil  government,  this  government 
was  that  of  a  theocracy,  and  here  with  the  highest 
source  of  authority  vested  in  a  bishop  chosen  by  the 
whole  settlement.  The  following  description  of  the 
local  government  of  one  of  these  settlements,  the 
Reinland,  which  consisted  of  twenty-five  villages,  was 
written  in  1877  by  Peter  Wiens,  himself  an  immigrant 
from  Russia. 

In  matters  concerning  the  church  there  is  one  bishop 
for  the  whole  settlement,  and  seven  ministers,  which  are 
elected  for  life,  and  preach  the  Word  of  God  in  their  public 
meetings.  In  the  management  of  affairs  of  the  church  the 
bishop  occupies  the  highest  position  and  is  looked  to  first  in 
deciding  and  settling  any  difficulties  that  may  arise  in  the 
church.  The  bishop  and  preachers  are  chosen  by  lot  by  the 
church  during  life. 

For  the  management  of  their  temporal  affairs,  to  see 
after  roads,  bridges,  etc.,  the  colony  has  a  district  office  in 
Reinland.  To  fill  this  office  the  whole  colony  elects  a  general 
superintendent,  each  village  a  director  and  two  assistants. 
A  secretary  for  the  district  office  is  hired  for  a  year.  The 
general  superintendent  or  director  and  the  village  directors 
or  village  superintendents,  as  they  are  sometimes  called,  and 
their  assistants  are  elected  for  two  years.  The  general 
superintendent  and  the  village  superintendents  are  each  paid 
a  small  salary. 

The  general  superintendent  gives  all  general  orders,  or 


IMMIGRATION   FROM   RUSSIA  339 

when  anything  is  to  be  done,  the  order  is  made  through  the 
secretary  of  the  district  to  the  superintendents  of  the  villages 
who  in  turn  make  it  known  to  the  village.  When  matters  of 
importance  are  to  be  attended  to,  the  general  superintendent 
through  the  secretary  calls  the  village  superintendents  to  a 
general  conference  in  which  all  the  village  superintendents 
in  the  district  must  appear  in  Reinland  and  sometimes  also 
the  bishop  of  the  church  takes  part  in  the  councils.  The 
general  superintendents,  when  considered  necessary,  makes 
known  the  proceedings  of  the  council  through  the  secretary 
to  the  superintendent  of  the  villages,  who  make  it  known 
to  the  villages.  Ofttimes  also  when  the  proceedings  are  short 
and  they  can  remember  them  without  difficulty,  the  pro- 
ceedings are  delivered  verbally  to  the  village  superintendents. 

As  long  as  everything  goes  on  in  peace  and  all  are 
obedient,  the  general  superintendent  and  the  village  superin- 
tendents have  only  to  give  the  needful  instructions,  but  if 
any  become  disobedient  and  refuse  to  obey  the  instructions 
of  the  general  and  village  superintendents,  they  are,  after  they 
have  been  exhorted  several  times,  given  over  to  the  bishop 
■of  the  church.  He  again  exhorts  them  to  obedience.  If  they 
hear  him,  all  is  again  well.  If,  however,  they  refuse  to  hear 
Iiim,  the  bishop  and  general  superintendent  together  visit 
them  several  times  in  order  if  possible  to  adjust  the  diffi- 
culties, sometimes  also  some  of  the  ministers  go  with  them 
to  assist  in  settling  the  difficulty.  If  they  hear  these,  all 
is  well  again,  but  if  they  refuse  to  hear  them  tkey  are  called 
into  the  church  before  the  whole  congregation  where  the 
bishop  is  the  director  of  the  meeting.  The  bishop  presents 
the  matter  to  the  congregation  and  makes  the  necessary  in- 
quiries of  them,  and  if  the  whole  congregation  agrees,  when 
these  disobedient  persons  are  not  willing  to  hear  after  the 
matter  has  been  again  seriously  and  solemnly  presented  to 
them,  then  these  disobedient  persons  are  excommunicated 
from  the  church  until  they  become  obedient,  acknowledge 
that  they  have  done  wrong,  and  ask  for  forgiveness.  When  an 
•excommunicated  member  comes  again  in  this  manner  peni- 
tent and  sofry,  he  is  presented  before  the  congregation,  and 
when  he  there  makes  his  confession,  he  is  again,  according 
to  the  Word  of  God,  received  into  the  church. 


340  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

The  entire  colony  has  an  office  for  the  care  of  the 
orphans  to  fill  which  two  persons  are  elected  for  three  years. 
These  have  in  charge  all  money  of  the  orphans,  widows  and 
other  weakly  persons,  which  they  loan  out  at  five  per  cent 
on  good  security  and  are  required  to  keep  a  correct  account 
of  all  their  transactions. 

The  colony  has  a  fire  office  to  which  a  fire  overseer  is 
chosen.  In  this  office  every  family  is  secured  and  a  record 
is  kept  of  the  amount  of  property  that  each  family  has  se- 
cured. When  a  fire  occurs  the  fire  overseer  makes  an  estimate 
of  the  percentage  of  the  loss.  He  then  reports  to  the 
-village  superintendents  who  collect  the  money  and  hand  it 
over  to  the  fire  overseer  who  pays  it  to  the  person  who  sus- 
tained the  loss.  Each  village  has  also  a  school  teacher  who 
is  employed  by  the  village  for  a  year  for  such  salary  as  they 
can  agree  upon.  The  bishop  and  ministers  receive  no  pay. 
The  above  is  briefly  an  account  of  the  manner  in  which 
our  colony  is  conducted.^ 

Although  there  has  been  some  dissatisfaction 
Avith  this  form  of  government  on  the  part  of  the 
younger  and  more  aggressive  members  of  the  colony, 
yet  the  local  government  here  described  with  slight 
modifications  is  still  in  vogue  in  the  Manitoba  settle- 
ment. 

The  Kansas  colony,  which  was  next  to  those  in 
Manitoba  in  size,  was  composed  largely  of  immi- 
grants from  the  Molotchna  settle- 
Kansas  Colony  ment.  Here  too,  although  they  came 
from  a  less  conservative  community, 
they  at  first  tried  to  reproduce  the  village  life  of  their 
native  land.  In  the  fall  of  1873  the  first  arrivals  pur- 
chased twelve  sections  of  railroad  land  in  Marion 
■county,  and  laid  out  two  villages,  "Gnadenau"  and 
•^'Hoffnungsthal."     Each   of  these   villages   "occupied 


S.     Peter   Wiens,   in   Herald   of   Truth,   November,    1877. 


IMMIGRATION   FROM   RUSSIA  341 

one  section  of  land,  the  main  street  running  through 
the  center,  with  the  dwelling  houses  and  flower  gar- 
dens facing  the  street,  the  barns,  the  stables,  orchards 
and  vegetable  gardens  in  the  rear  of  the  lots.  The 
remaining  ten  sections  of  land  were  devoted  to  the 
farms  proper."^  This  manner  of  settlement,  how- 
ever, was  abandoned  by  the  later  immigrants  to  the 
colony,  who  adopted  the  American  plan  of  having 
their  houses  on  the  land  they  farmed. 

The  Kansas  settlers  at  first  met  with  many  hard- 
ships. They  came  into  the  state  in  the  year  of  the 
financial  panic  of  1873,  which  was  followed  the  next 
year  by  the  grasshopper  plague.  As  a  result  many 
of  them  had  to  call  upon  their  brethren  in  the  eastern 
states  for  the  necessaries  of  life.  They  have  since, 
however,  become  among  the  most  prosperous  people 
in  the  western  states.  They  have  also  become  among 
the  most  useful  and  faithful  of  American  citizens. 
One  of  their  number,  Peter  Jansen,  a  wealthy  land- 
owner and  sheep  raiser,  was  at  one  time  a  member  of 
the  Nebraska  legislature  and  was  appointed  by  Presi- 
dent McKinley  as  one  of  the  commissioners  from  this 
country  to  the  Paris  Exposition  in  1900. 

In  their  conference  relations  the  Russian  churches 
are  not  a  unit.     A  small  division  had  taken  place  in 

Crimea  a  short  time  befor,e  the  immigra- 
Conference  tion.  This  branch,  known  as  the 
Relations  "Briider    Gemeinde,"    practices    baptism 

by  immersion  and  is  more  conservative 
in  its  religious  life  than  the  main  body.  It  is  repre- 
sented in  this  country  by  several  congregations  in  the 
western  states. 


9.     C.  B.  Schmidt,  in  Reminiscences  of  Foreign  Immigration  Work. 


342  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

The  Manitoba  settlements  have  remained  isolated 
from  the  American  churches.  But  in  the  United 
States  there  has  been  a  closer  connection  between  the 
native  and  Russian  congregations.  The  majority  have 
affiliated  themselves  with  the  General  Conference 
Mennonites.  About  thirty  congregations,  principally 
from  Kansas ,  including  the  large  Alexanderwohl 
church  of  about  eight  hundred  members  in  Harvey 
county,  are  now  included  in  that  body. 

A  number  of  small  congregations  in  Nebraska 
and  Minnesota  have  united  in  the  Minnesota-Nebraska 
conference.  The  leading  spirit  in  the  movement  had 
been  Isaac  Peters,  from  Henderson,  Nebraska,  and 
hence  these  churches  are  sometimes  spoken  of  among 
other  Mennonites  as  the  "Peters"  churches. 

Several  of  the  congregations  of  Kansas  have  fur- 
nished a  number  of  members  for  the  so-called  "Holde- 
man"  people,  while  a  number  of  churches  in  Minnesota 
have  remained  independent  of  all  conference  relations. 


CHAPTER  XIII 


GENERAL    CONFERENCE    MENNONITES^ 


As  already  seen  in  another  chapter,  J.  H.  Ober- 
holtzer  and  his  followers  after  their  expulsion  from 
the  Franconia  conference  in  1847 
J.  H.  Oberholtzer  immediately  organized  themselves 
into  a  new  religious  body.  Ober- 
holtzer began  an  aggressive  campaign  for  the  spread 
of  the  new  movement.  For  the  advancement  of  the 
religious  interests  of  his  congregations  he  founded  in 
1852  the  first  Mennonite  religious  paper  in  America, 
called  Religioser  Botschafter.  This  paper  soon 
changed  its  name  to  Christliches  Volksblatt  and  is 
still  published  at  Berne,  Indiana,  under  the  name  of 
Christlicher  Bundesbote. 

Although  Oberholtzer  was  active  in  promoting 
the  interests  of  the  new  movement,  he  had  not  entirely 
abandoned  the  hope  of  effecting  a  reconciliation  with 
the  mother  church.  He  was  earnest  in  his  desire 
for   union   and   as   late  as    1860,   he   suggested   in   a 


1.  For  the  infomation  in  this  chapter  I  am  indebted  almost  entirely  to 
the  excellent  history  of  the  General  Conference  movement  written 
by  H.    P.   Krehbiel. 


344  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

pamphlet  called  Verantwortung  und  Erlauterung, 
terms  upon  which  the  two  churches  might  unite. 
These  terms,  however,  were  rejected  and  no  reconcilia- 
tion was  brought  about. 

In  the  meantime  a  liberal   movement  similar  in 
many  respects  to  the  one  in  Franconia  had  made  head- 
way among  a  few  of  the  scattered 
Liberal   Movement      churches    near    Niagara    Falls,    in 
in  Ontario  Lincoln     county,     Ontario.       The 

movement  was  one  in  behalf  of 
more  aggressive  church  work,  especially  of  greater 
evangelistic  efforts,  and  the  leading  spirit  was  a  min- 
ister by  the  name  of  Daniel  Hoch.  In  1853  Hoch  was 
appointed  by  these  congregations  as  evangelist  to  visit 
some  of  the  scattered  churches  in  the  region.  He  also 
evidently  came  in  touch  with  a  small  congregation 
near  Wadsworth,  Ohio,  for  in  1855  these  churches 
■organized  themselves  into  the  Conference  Council  of 
the  Mennonite  Community  of  Canada  West  and  Ohio. 
The  purpose  of  the  organization  seems  to  have  been 
to  promote  a  greater  evangelistic  and  missionary  zeal 
among  the  churches, 

Oberholtzer  had  taken  a  great  interest  in  the 
Canada  movement  from  the  very  beginning,  for  here 
might  perhaps  be  an  opportunity  of  enlarging  the 
•circle  of  churches  that  favored  a  more  liberal  policy, 
and  of  beginning  the  realization  of  a  dream  which  he 
already  began  to  cherish,  namely,  the  unification  of  all 
the  Mennonite  churches  of  America.  Consequently  in 
the  Volksblatt  in  1856  he  advocated  the  union  of  the 
Canada-Ohio  conference  already  referred  to  with  his 
own  Pennsylvania  conference  in  the  interests  of  the 
mission  cause,  and  suggested  a  general  council  of  the 


GENERAL  CONFERENCE  MENNONITES        345 

two  conferences.  The  plan  was  favorably  received  by 
the  Canadian  churches  but  no  action  was  taken 
upon  it. 

While   this   subject  was   being  discussed   in   the 
East,  a  question  of  a  similar  nature  had  arisen  in  the 
West.     In  Lee  county,  Iowa,  there 
Iowa  Movement      were  two  congregations  which  were 
composed  largely  of  Bavarian  immi- 
grants who  had  come  to  the  state  a  few  years  before. 
They  were  located  near  the  Amish  settlement  which 
had  been  made  here  some  time  earlier.     But  being 
more  recently  from  Europe  than  the  Amish  and  differ- 
ing from  them  in  some  of  their  customs,  they  never 
worked  in  harmony  with  them.     Consequently  these 
two  congregations  found  themselves  isolated  from  the 
other   Iowa    churches.      Feeling   the    need    of   united 
effort,    especially    in    evangelistic    work   among   such 
members  of  the  church  as  had  settled  some  distance 
from  the  main  body  of  the  two  congregations,  in  1859 
they  held  a  joint  meeting  of  which  J.  C.  Krehbiel  was 
the  chairman,  near  West  Point  in  Lee  county,  for  the 
purpose  of  "devising  ways  on  the  one  hand  for  the 
centralization  of  the  Mennonite  churches,  but  chiefly 
on  the  other  for  supplying  isolated  families  with  the 
Gospel  blessings."     The  ideal  of  a  union  of  all  Men- 
nonite churches  in  the  interest  of  the  mission  cause, 
or  at  any  rate  of  such  Mennonite  churches  as  were  in 
sympathy  with  a  more  aggressive  church  policy  seems 
also   to  have   taken   hold  of  the  imagination   of  the 
leaders  in  the  Lee  county  congregations.     Near  the 
close  of  the  meeting  it  was  decided  to  invite  other 
churches  to  meet  with  them  in  another  conference  to 
be  held  the  next  year  near  West  Point.    The  report  of 


346  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

the   meeting  together  with  this  invitation   was   pub- 
lished in  the  Volksblatt. 

Oberholtzer  naturally  was  interested  in  the  Iowa 
movement.  During  the  year  he  repeatedly  urged 
through  the  columns  of  his  paper  that  his  own  and  the 
Canadian  congregations  send  representatives  to  the 
coming  meeting  in  Lee  county.  Neither,  however, 
seemed  enthusiastic  in  responding  to  the  invitation, 
and  that  for  several  reasons.  In  the  first  place  Iowa 
was  at  that  time  on  the  frontier  line  of  American  civil- 
ization, and  why  should  the  eastern  churches  go  so  far 
west  to  attend  a  meeting  the  purpose  of  which  was  to 
form  a  union  of  congregations  almost  all  of  which 
were  located  in  the  East.  Secondly,  the  lowans  were 
recent  European  immigrants  in  whom  the  easterners, 
whose  ancestors  had  been  in  this  country  for  two 
centuries,  felt  little  interest.  Neither  of  the  local  con- 
ferences appointed  delegates  to  the  western  meeting. 
Hoch  and  Oberholtzer  appeared  to  be  the  only  indi- 
viduals who  manifested  any  interest  in  the  enterprise, 
and  it  seemed  doubtful  whether  even  they  could  go. 
But  finally  at  the  very  last  moment  Oberholtzer  with 
one  companion  contrived  to  attend  and  they  were  the 
only  representatives  at  the  meeting  outside  of  the  Iowa 
congregations. 

The  conference,  if  such  it  may  be  called,  was  held 
May  28-9,  1860,  near  West  Point,  and  was  composed 
of    the    two    congregations    already 
The   Conference      mentioned,  another  minister  from  a 
of  1860  nearby  settlement  and  the  two  repre- 

sentatives from  Pennsylvania.  J.  H. 
Oberholtzer  was  chosen  chairman,  and  Christian  Sho- 
walter  of  the  home  congregation,  secretary.    Although 


GENERAL  CONFERENCE  MENNONITES        347 

unpretentious  and  local  in  character,  this  meeting  was 
not  deterred  by  that  fact  from  discussing  an  ambitious 
and  lofty  ideal,  namely,  the  unification  of  all  the  Men- 
nonites  of  America  under  one  working  organization. 
Deploring  the  fact  that  there  was  so  much  strife 
among  the  congregations  and  that  the  "denomination 
has  never  since  its  existence  in  America  constituted  an 
ecclesiastical  organization,"  the  assembly  drew  up 
a  set  of  resolutions  which  might  serve  as  a  common 
platform  upon  which  all  might  unite  for  the  extension 
of  the  mission  and  other  church  interests.  These 
resolutions,  are  as  follows, — 

1.  That  all  branches  of  the  Mennonite  denomination  in 
North  America  regardless  of  minor  differences,  should  extend 
to  each  other  the  hand  of  fellowship. 

2.  That  fraternal  relations  shall  be  severed  only  when  a 
person  or  church  abandons  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  the 
denomination;  namely,  those  concerning  baptism,  the  oath, 
etc.,  as  indeed  all  those  principal  doctrines  of  the  faith  which 
we  with  Menno  base  solely  upon  the  Gospel  as  received 
from  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  His  apostles. 

3.  That  no  brother  shall  be  found  guilty  of  heresy  unless  his 
error  can  be  established  on  unequivocal   Scripture  evidence. 

4.  That  the  General  Conference  shall  consider  no  excom- 
munication as  scripturally  valid,  unless  a  real  transgres- 
sion or  neglect  conflicting  with  the  demands  of  scripture, 
exists. 

5.  That  every  church  or  district  shall  be  entitled  to  continue 
without  molestation  or  hindrance  and  amenable  only  to  their 
own  conscience,  any  rules  or  regulations  they  may  have 
adopted  for  their  own  government;  provided  they  do  not 
conflict  with  the  tenets  of  our  gefieral  confession. 

6.  That  if  a  member  of  a  church,  because  of  existing  customs 
or  ordinances  in  his  church,  shall  desire  to  sever  his  connec- 


348  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

tion  and  unite  with  some  other  church  of  the  General  Con- 
ference, such  action  shall  not  be  interfered  with. 2 

As  indicated,  the  motive  for  this  united  action  was 
for  more  effective  evangelistic  efforts,  but  two  other 
subjects  were  discussed  during  the  meet- 
Its  Purpose  ing, — the  establishing  of  a  publishing 
house,  and  of  an  institution  for  theolog- 
ical training.  Both  of  these  measures  had  been  advo- 
cated by  Oberholtzer  and  Hoch  before,  and  the  former 
no  doubt  introduced  them  in  the  discussions  at  this 
time.  After  a  two  days  session  the  assembly  ad- 
journed, but  not  before  it  was  decided  to  meet  again 
the  following  year  at  Wadsworth,  Ohio. 

Thus  was  launched  the  General  Conference  of 
the  Mennonites,  or  what  became  popularly  known  as 
the  General  Conference  Mennonites.  The  aim  of  the 
movement  was  an  ambitious,  but  a  worthy  one.  Just 
how  seriously  the  leaders  of  the  cause  at  this  time 
entertained  the  thought  of  a  union  of  all  Mennonites  it 
is  not  easy  to  say.  It  may  be  safely  inferred,  however, 
that  none  expected  to  see  the  work  accomplished  in 
their  own  generation,  for  the  task  was  almost  an  im- 
possible one.  The  gap  between  the  opposite  extremes 
of  Mennonite  custom  and  practice  of  that  time  was 
too  wide  to  be  bridged  over  easily.  But  a  union  of 
some  of  the  more  liberal  of  the  native  American 
churches  and  a  number  of  the  recent  immigrant  con- 
gregations was  entirely  feasible,  and  the  leaders  of 
the  movement  perhaps  hardly  hoped  to  accomplish 
more  than  that. 

The  General  Conference,  however,  was  hardly  a 


2.      Krehbiel.     p.   57. 


GENERAL  CONFERENCE  MENNONITES        349 

fact  as  yet.  Neither  the  Canada-Ohio  Council  nor  the 
several  other  independent  congregations  which  it  was 
hoped  might  be  brought  into  line  had  accepted  the  first 
invitation.  It  remained  to  be  seen  what  action  these 
WHDuld  take  at  the  next  meeting  at  Wadsworth. 

This  session,  the  second  of  the  General  Confer- 
ence, was  held  at  Wadsworth,  Medina  county,  Ohio» 

Second  Session  ^^^^  ^^'  ^^^^'  ^^  ^^^  ^°°^^  ^°""*^  ^^^^ 
at  Wadsworth  ^^'^  unification  movement  was  growing, 
for  now  eight  congregations  were 
represented,  including  in  addition  to  those  represented 
the  previous  year,  those  at  Waterloo,  Ontario,  Wads- 
worth, Ohio,  Summerfield,  Illinois,  and  several  from 
Pennsylvania.  Two  new  subjects  were  discussed  at 
this  session.  A  new  article  discouraging  secret  soci- 
eties was  added  to  the  platform  adopted  the  previous 
year,  and  the  first  steps  were  taken  toward  the  estab- 
lishing of  a  theological  school.  This  was  founded 
several  years  later  at  Wadsworth.  The  conference 
was  now  a  fact.  After  this,  sessions  v/ere  held  regu- 
larly, at  first  biennially,  but  later  triennially.  Under 
Mie  leadership  of  such  able  men  as  J.  H.  Oberholtzer^ 
Daniel  Krehbiel,  Christian  Showalter,  A.  B.  Shelly, 
Christian  Krehbiel,  Ephraim  Hunsberger,  S.  F. 
Sprunger  and  many  other  younger  men  within  recent 
years,  the  movement  grew  steadily  from  the  beginning 
along  the  lines  laid  down  at  the  first  meeting  in  Iowa. 
Each  session  since  then  has  shown  an  addition  of  new 
congregations. 

The  largest  additions  have  come  from  the  more 
recent  immigrant  churches,— the  Swiss  of  Ohio  and 
Indiana,  and  the  Russians  of  Kansas  and  other  western 


3S0  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

states.'  Among  the  largest  congregations  are  now  the 
magnificent  church  at  Berne,  Indiana,  with  a  member- 
ship of  over  seven  hundred,  and  the  Alexanderwohl 
congregation  of  Russians,  in  Harvey  county,  Kansas, 
which  has  a  membership  of  about  eight  hundred.  In 
1908  the  Conference  embraced  a  total  membership  of 
about  twelve  thousand. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  General   Conference  of 
Mennonites  is  not  a  separate  division  of  the  church.    It 

is  rather  a  conference  whose  ulti- 
Character  of  the  mate    aim    is    the    union    of    all 

General    Conference      branches     of    the     denomination. 

This  it  hopes  to  do  along  the  lines 
laid  down  in  1860.  No  restrictions  or  limitations  are 
placed  upon  the  congregations  composing  it.  Each 
governs  itself  and  determines  its  own  church  policy. 
But  all  unite  upon  certain  lines  of  Christian  activity — 
such  as  missions,  education,  publication  interests  and 
evangelistic  efforts.  The  purpose  of  the  General  Con- 
ference is  best  set  forth  by  H.  P.  Krehbiel,  the  his- 
torian of  the  movement.     He  says, — 

The  churches  constituting  the  General  Conference  have  by 
their  union  not  become  something  else' from  what  they  were 
before.  Each  church  remains  just  what  it  was  and  retains 
all  peculiarities  she  had  if  she  chooses.  Each  church  retains 
her  individuality  as  well  as  her  independence.  It  is  not  a 
separate  class  or  division  of  Mennonites  which  may  be  distin- 
guished from  others  by  special  doctrines  or  customs.  It  is 
impossible  to  class  the  Conference  as  such  a  division  because 
her    membership    list    contains    churches    which    differ    very 


This  was  because  both  the  General  Conference  and  the  recent  immi- 
grants were  in  favor  of  heathen  mission  work  while  the  old  Men- 
nonites still  opposed  such  work,  and  because  both  were  more  liberal 
in  their  views  regarding  religious  customs  and  practices  than  the 
main  body  of  the  native  American  church. 


GENERAL  CONFERENCE  MENNONITES       351 

much  in  customs  and  special  views,  and  which  to  this  day- 
retain  these  differences  precisely  as  they  did  previous  to 
uniting  with  the  Conference.  The  General  Conference  is 
therefore  in  no  sense  a  branch  or  division  of  the  denomina- 
tion. 

After  all,  however,  the  members  of  the  organiza- 
tion necessarily  have  certain  common  interests  and 
religious  ©pinions  and  practices  which  differentiate 
them  from  all  other  Mennonites,  and  which  give  them 
many  of  the  characteristics  of  a  separate  branch  of  the 
church.  In  fundamental  doctrines  they  differ  little 
from  other  divisions  of  the  denomination.  In 
the  main  they  accept  the  same  confession  of 
faith  as  all  others — the  Dordrecht  Confession 
of  1632,  and  they  accept  all  the  fundamental 
doctrines  of  the  Mennonite  faith  with  the  excep- 
tion that  some  of  them  insist  on  rather  a  modified 
form  of  the  doctrine  of  non-resistance  as  applied  to  war 
and  especially  as  applied  to  the  practice  of  availing 
one's  self  of  the  law  in  personal  controversies. 

In  practice  and  customs,  however,  they  differ  in 
some  respects  from  the  main  body  of  Old  Mennonites. 
They  do  not  practice  feetw'ashing,  and  no  restrictions 
are  laid  on  the  form  of  dress.  They  maintain  a  salaried 
ministry  and  favor  in  general  a  liberal  church  policy. 

And  consequently  they  have  made  little  headway 
in  interesting  the  more  conservative  bodies  of  the 
church  in  the  movement  for  union.  For  among  both  the 
Amish  and  the  main  body  of  native  American  Mennon- 
ites, these  earlier  practices  are  still  firmly  rooted. 
Whether  the  various  branches  will  ever  again  reunite 
and  if  so,  whether  the  union  will  be  along  the  lines 
suggested  by  the  General  Conference  Mennonites,  is 
a  question  the  solution  of  which  no  one  can  foretell. 


352  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

It  is  but  natural  that  this,  the  most  liberal  wing- 
of  the  denomination,  should  be  the  first  to  venture  out 
into  new  lines  of  Christian  activity.    It  is 
Christian  here  that  the  first  church  paper,  the  first 

Activity  church   school,  and   the   first   missionary- 

enterprise  among  the  American  Mennon- 
ites  were  established.  Although  at  times  there  has 
been  considerable  friction  between  the  eastern  and 
western  churches,  due  to  the  fact  that  the  former  were 
native  Americans  while  the  latter  were  recent  Euro- 
pean immigrants,  yet  the  growth  of  interest  in  edu- 
cational and  missionary  enterprises  has  been  constant 
from  the  beginning,  and  the  General  Conference  move- 
ment has  done  much  to  enhance  both  the  interests  and 
the  good  name  of  the  whole  denomination. 


CHAPTER  XIV 
THE   MENNONITES   AND   THE   STATE 

The  purpose  of  this  chapter  is  to  show  how  in 
America  the  non-resistant  principles  of  the  Mennonites 
often  came  into  conflict  with  the  civil  authorities,  but 
how,  also,  absolute  religious  liberty  was  finally  se- 
cured. The  subject  will  be  treated  from  the  stand- 
point of  the  civil  powers,  and  I  shall  not  discuss  here 
the  experience  of  the  Mennonites  in  the  application  of 
these  laws.  In  this  respect  the  Quakers  and  Mennon- 
ites have  in  many  instances  had  a  common  history, 
and  the  two  must  necessarily  be  treated  more  or  less 
together. 

No  part  of  their  creed  has  subjected  the  Mennon- 
ites to  more  misrepresentation  and  misunderstanding 
than  their  attitude  toward  the  civil 
Attitude  toward  authorities.  They  adopted  bodily 
Civil  Government  the  faith  of  the  peaceful  type  of 
Misunderstood  Anabaptists,  and  that  was  a  rejec- 

tion of  all  civil  and  a  great  deal  of 
the  prevailing  ecclesiastical  government  as  unneces- 
sary for  the  Christian.  The  Non-resistant  Anabaptists 
of  whom  the  Mennonites  were  the  direct  successors, 
went  no  further,  however,  in  their  opposition  to  the 
temporal  authority  than  to  declare  that  the  true  church 


354  MENNONITES    OF   AMERICA 

and  the  temporal  powers  had  nothing  in  common  and 
must  be  entirely  separate;  not  only  must  the  state  not 
interfere  with  the  church,  but  the  true  Christian  must 
be  entirely  free  from  participating  in  civil  matters. 
The  temporal  authority  must  needs  exist  since  it  was- 
instituted  of  God  to  punish  the  wicked,  but  in  that 
work  the  Christian  had  no  hand.  This  position  they 
reached  from  a  literal  interpretation  of  the  Sermon  on 
the  mount  where  Christ  taught  his  disciples  among 
other  things  to  "love  their  enemies",  and  to  "swear  not 
at  all."  Hence  their  position  involved  opposition  to- 
the  oath,  holding  of  office  and  bearing  of  arms.  This 
often  brought  them  into  trouble  with  the  civil  author- 
ities, and  in  Europe  they  seldom  got  exemption  from 
these  civic  obligations.  This  was  one  of  the  causes  of 
their  emigration.  Nor  were  they  granted  entire  exemp- 
tion in  America  without  many  years  of  struggle. 

The  earliest  Anabaptist  confession  of  faith  drawn 
up  at  Schleitheim  in  1527,  teaches  very  distinctly  that 
the  use  of  the  sword  is  ordained  by 
Anabaptist  View        God  to  punish  the  wicked  but  no^ 
of  the  Sword  Christian  can  wield  it.     As  to  the 

right  of  the  Christian  to  be  a  magis- 
trate, this  declaration  states,  "it  was  intended  to  make 
Christ  King  and  He  fled  and  did  not  regard  the  ordi- 
nance of  the  Father.  Thus  should  we  do,  and  follow 
him  and  we  shall  not  walk  in  darkness."  Neither  can- 
the  Christian  take  an  oath,  for  "Christ  who  teaches 
the  perfection  of  the  law  forbids  to  his  people  all 
swearing  whether  true  or  false."  This  was  the  position 
taken  by  Menno  Simons^  and  by  all  those  Anabaptists 


See  Menno  Simons'  Complete  Works,  Elkhart,  Ind.,  Edition.     Part  II_ 
p.  301. 


MENNONITES  AND  THE  STATE  355 

who  later  were  known  as  Mennonites.  The  Ana- 
baptist movement  was  not  confined  to  Germany  and 
Holland  but  soon  appeared  also  in  England,  That  this 
view  of  the  Christian's  attitude  toward  the  civil  author- 
ities had  made  some  headway  in  the  latter  country  is 
evidenced  by  the  fact  that  the  earliest  confessions  of 
faith  of  the  Presbyterian,  Anglican  and  Baptist 
churches  found  it  necessary  to  explicitly  state  that  it 
is  not  unlawful  nor  inconsistent  for  the  Christian  to 
swear,  bear  arms,  or  be  a  magistrate.-     On  the  con- 


The  following  extracts  taken  from  various  Confessions  of  Faith  and 
other    sources    illustrate    the    prevalence    of    these    ideas : 

(a)  "It  is  lawful  for  a  Christian  to  be  a  magistrate  or  civil  officer 
and  also  it  is  lawful  to  take  an  oath  so  it  be  in  truth  and  judgment 
and  in  righteousness  for  confirmation  of  truth  and  ending  all  strife 
and  that  by  rash  and  vain  oaths  the  Lord  is  provoked  and  this  land 
mourns."  Article  49.  Confession  of  Faith  of  so-called  Anabaptists 
in  London,  1646, — See  Schaflf,  Confessions  of  Faith  of  Baptists  in 
the  Seventeenth   Century,   p.   46. 

(b)  "We  ought  to  pay  tribute,  custom,  and  all  other  duties. 
Magistrates  may  be  members  of  the  church  of  Christ,  retaining 
their  magistracy,  for  no  ordinance  of  God  debarreth  any  from  being 
a  member  of  Christ's  church.  They  bear  the  Sword  of  God  ;  which 
Sword  in  all  lawful  administrations  is  to  be  defended  and  supported 
by  the  servants  of  God  that  are  under  their  government,  with  their 
lives  and  all  that  they  have,  according  as  in  the  first  institution  of 
that  holy  ordinance." — Declaration  of  Faith  of  English  people  re- 
maining at  Amsterdam,  printed   161L       See  Schaff,  p.   10. 

>  (c)  "A  lawful  oath  is  a  part  of  religious  worship  wherein  upon 
just  occasion  the  person  swearing  solemnly  calleth  God  to  witness 
what  he  asserteth  or  promiseth." 

It  is  lawful  for  Christians  to  accept  and  execute  the  office  of  a 
magistrate  when   called  thereunto." — Westminister   Confession    1647. 

(d)  "It  is  lawful  for  Christian  men  at  the  commandment  of  the 
magistrate  to  weare  weapons  and  serve  in  the  wars." 

■'We  judge  that  Christian  religion  doth  not  prohibite,  but  that 
a  man  may  sweare  when  the  magistrate  requireth  in  a  cause  of 
faith  and  charitie,  so  it  be  done  accordyng  to  the  prophet's  teaching 
in  justice,  judgment  and  truth." — The  Book  of  Common  Prayer  of 
Church  of  England.     1571  Edition. 

(e)  "The  Sword — An  ordinance  of  God,  to  punish  the  wicked. 
The  Christian  can  not  use  it."  "Magistrate — It  was  intended  to 
make  Christ  king  and  he  fled,  and  did  not  regard  the  ordinance  of 


356  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

tinent  several  peace  sects  borrowed  a  part  or  all  of 
these  doctrines  from  the  earlier  Anabaptists  or  later 
Mennonites.  The  most  prominent  of  these,  most  of 
whom  followed  the  Mennonites  to  America  early  in 
the  eighteenth  century,  were  the  Moravians,  Schwenk- 
felders  and  the  Dunkards. 


His  Father.  Thus  should  we  do  and  follow  Him  and  we  shall  not 
walk  in  darkness."  "Oath — Christ  who  teacheth  the  perfection  of 
the  law  forbids  to  his  people  all  swearing  whether  true  or  false." 
Substance  of  the  Schleitheim  Confession  of  Faith  1527  as  quoted  by 
Armitage  in  his  history  of  the  Baptists.  This  is  the  first  Anabaptist 
confession   and   was   adopted   by   the   Mennonites. 

(f)  In  as  much  as  we  thus  confess  and  cordially  believe  and  be- 
sides confess  that  no  emperor  or  king  may  rule  or  command  con- 
trary to  his  word  since  he  is  the  head  of  all  princes  and  is  the  king 
of  kings  and  that  unto  Him  every  knee  shall  bow  which  is  in  heaven 
in  earth  or  under  the  earth,  and  as  he  has  plainly  forbidden  us  to 
swear  and  points  us  to  yea  and  nay  alone,  therefore  it  is  that 
we  swear  not  by  the  fear  of  God,  nor  dare  swear,  though  we  must 
bear  and  suffer  so  much  on  that  account  from  the  world." — Menno 
Simons. 

(g)  "God  has  instituted  civil  government  for  the  punishment  of 
the  wicked  and  the  protection  of  the  pious,  etc." 

"Regarding  revenge  whereby  we  resist  our  enemies  with  the 
Sword,  we  believe  and  confess  that  the  Lord  Jesus  has  forbidden 
his  disciples  and  followers  all  revenge  and  resistance  and  has  there- 
by commanded  them  not  to  return  evil  for  evil  nor  railing  for 
railing;  but  to  put  up  the  sword  into  the  sheath,  or  as  the  prophets 
foretold,    beat   them   into   plough    shares,    etc." 

"Regarding  the  swearing  of  oaths  we  believe  and  confess  that 
the  Lord  Jesus  has  dissuaded  his  followers  from  and  forbidden  the 
same ;  that  is,  that  he  commanded  them  to  swear  not  at  all ;  but 
that  their  "Yea"  should  be  "yea,"  and  their  "Nay,"  "nay,"  etc. — 
Mennonite    Confession    of    Faith,    1632. 

(h)  "And  whereas  many  of  us  are  now  prisoners  can  not  take 
the  oath  of  allegiance  because  we  can  not  swear  at  all." — Anabap- 
tists of  Kent  County,  England  in  a  petition  to  Charles  II,  1660, 
quoted  in  Tracts  on  Liberty  of  Conscience  by  Hansard  Knollys 
Society,  p.  307. 

(i) 
Error  104. 

"That    Poedobaptism    is    unlawful    and    anti-christian    and    'tis    as 
lawful  to  baptize  a  Cat,  or  a  Dog,  or  a  Chicken  as  to  baptize  the 
infants   of  believers." — Part   II.   28. 
Error  158. 


MENNONITES  AND  THE  STATE  357 

In  England,  on  the  other  hand,  by  the  close  of  the 
seventeenth  century  the  Quakers  stood  alone  as  ex- 
ponents of  the  non-resistant  doc- 
Struggles  of  Quakers  trine.  Here  at  the  time  when 
for  Exemption  from  Pennsylvania  was  settled  they 
the  Oath  had  not  yet  gained  any  exemp- 

tion from  the  oath.     It  was  not 
until   1689  that  any  concessions  were  made  to  their 


"Tis  unlawful  for  Christians  to  defend  Religion  with  the  Sword 
or   to   fight   for   it   when   men   come   with   Sword   to   take   it   away, 
Religion  will  defend  itself." — Part  II.    34. 
Error  159. 

"  'Tis  unlawful  for  Christians  to  fight,  and  take  up  arms  for  their 
laws  and  civil  liberties." 
Error   160. 

■'  'Tis  unlawful  to  fight  at  all  or  to  kill  any  of  the  creatures  for 
our  use,  as  a  chicken  or  any  on  other  occasion." 
Error    168. 

"That  'tis  unlawful  for  a  Christian  to  be  a  magistrate  but  upon 
turning  Christian  he  should  lay  down  his  magistracie,  neither  do 
we  read  after  Cornelius  was  baptized  (though  he  were  a  Centurion 
before  and  a  man  in  command  and  authority)  that  ever  he  meddled 
any  more  with  his  band  called  the  Italian  band."  Part  II.  35. 
Error    40. 

"That  tis  not  lawful  for  Christians  to  take  an  oath,  no  not  when 
they  are  called  before  authority  and  brought  into  court."  Part  III. 
14. — These  extracts  are  taken  from  "Edwards  Gangrena",  a  "Trea- 
tise on  the  Sectaries  of  England  and  their  Errors",  published  in 
London,    1647. 

(j)  "For  as  much  as  the  consciences  of  sundry  men,  truly  con- 
scienable  may  scruple  the  giving  or  taking  of  an  oath,  and  it  would 
be  noways  suitable  to  the  nature  and  constitution  of  our  place  (who 
profess  ourselves  to  be  men  of  different  consciences  and  not  willing 
to  force  another)  to  Debar  such  as  can  not  do  so,  either  from  bear- 
ing oiifice  amongst  us,  or  from  giving  in  testimony  in  a  case  de- 
pending." 

"Be  it  enacted  by  the  authority  of  this  present  Assembly  that  a 
solemn  profession  or  Testimony  in  a  Court  of  Record,  or  before  a 
Judge  of  Record  shall  be  accounted,  throughout  the  whole  Colonic 
of  as  full  force  as  an  oath." — Rhode  Island  Colonial  Records    I    181 
(1647). 

(k)  "For  as  much  as  experience  hath  plentyfully  and  often 
proved  yet  since  ye  first  arising  of  ye  Anabaptists,  about  a  hundred 
years  since  they  have  been  ye  incendaries  of  Commonwealths,  and 


358  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

tender  consciences.  The  Act  of  Toleration  permitted  a 
solemn  promise  and  declaration  to  take  the  place  of 
the  oath  of  allegiance  and  abjuration.  In  1696  Parlia- 
ment passed  an  act  providing  a  modified  form  of  the 
affirmation,  which  however  was  still  objectionable  to 
the  Quakers.  This  act  was  renewed  frequently  in  later 
years  and  was  given  a  wider  application,  but  it  was 
not  until  1833  that  the  affirmation  was  made  equal  in 
every  respect  to  the  usual  oath. 

The  law  of  1696  was  applied  to  Pennsylvania  by 
Queen  Anne  but  withdrawn  again  in  1705.^  No  provi- 
sion was  made  in  it  for  the  Men- 
Pennsylvania  nonites.  The  laws  passed  by  the 
Laws  on  the  Oath  colony  of  Pennsylvania  very  early 
made  it  possible  for  those  con- 
scientiously opposed  to  the  oath  to  substitute  the 
affirmation.  The  laws  of  England  discriminated  in 
favor  of  the  Quakers  only,  and  it  may  be  for  this  reason 
that  the  Mennonites  in  1706  petitioned  the  Provincial 
CounciP  that 


ye  infectors  of  persons  in  Maine  matters  of  religion,  and  ye 
troublers  of  churches  in  all  places  where  they  have  bene  and  yet 
they  who  have  held  ye  baptizing  of  infants  unlawful  have  usually 
held  other  errors  or  heresies  together  therewith,  though  they  have 
(as  other  hereticks  use  to  do)  concealed  ye  same  till  they  spied  out 
a  fit  advantage  and  opportunity  to  vent  them,  by  way  of  question  or 
scruple  and  whereas  divers  of  this  kind  have  since  our  coming  into 
New  England,  appeared  amongst  ourselves,  some  whereof  have  (as 
others  before  them)  denied  ye  ordinance  of  magistracy,  and  ye  law- 
fulness of  making  war,  and  others  ye  lawfulness  of  magistrates  and 
their  inspection  into  any  breach  of  ye  first  table,  which  opin- 
ions, if  they  should  be  connived  at  by  us,  are  like  to  be  increased 
amongst  us  and  so  must  necessarily  bring  guilt  upon  us,  infection 
and  trouble  to  ye  churches,  and  hazard  to  ye  whole  community." — 
It  is  ordered  and  agreed  etc."— Mass.  Rec,  II.  85.     (1644). 

3.  Restored   again    1725.      See    Proud,    History   of   Pennsylvania.    II.    190. 

4.  Col.   Rec,  II,  241. 


MENNONITES  AND  THE  STATE  359 

since  they  (with  their  predecessory  for  above  150  years  past) 
could  not  for  conscience  sake  take  an  oath,  the  same  provi- 
sion may  be  made  for  them  by  Law  as  is  made  for  those 
called  Quakers  in  this  Province  and  that  the  said  Law  may 
te  sent  home  With  the  rest  passed  by  the  late  Assembly  in 
order  to  obtain  the  Queens  Royal  approbation. 

The  Quakers  who  had  control  of  the  government  of 
Pennsylvania  had  a  tender  regard  for  the  religious 
scruples  of  the  Mennonites  and  granted  them  all  the 
religious  liberty  they  themselves  enjoyed.  In  1717  the 
Council,  alarmed  at  the  large  German  immigration 
that  seemed  to  threaten  them,  passed  an  ordinance  to 
the  effect  that  all  newcomers  should  take  an  oath  of 
allegiance  to  his  Majesty  and  his  Government.  The 
Mennonites,  however,  "who  can  not  for  conscience 
sake  take  any  oaths"  are  to  be  admitted  "upon  their 
giving  any  equivalent  assurance  in  their  own  way  and 
manner:"^  This  provision  evidently  did  not  apply  to 
any  of  the  non-resistant  denominations  except  the  Men- 
nonites, for  on  November  4,  1742,  a  petition  was  re- 
ceived by  the  council  from  the  Amish*'  demanding  that 
the  oath  be  changed  in  the  naturalization  laws,  since 
they 

though  not  Quakers,  are  conscientiously  scrupulous  to  taking 
any  oath,  they  can  not  as  the  Law  now  stands  be  naturalized.''' 


5.  Col.  Rec,  III.  29. 

6.  Hazard,  Register,  VII.   151. 

Conyngham  the  author  of  this  article  says  that  this  petition  was 
written  in  1718.  Conyngham  however  is  altogether  unreliable  in 
almost  everything  he  says  about  the  Amish.  His  statement  here  is 
not  consistent  with  facts.  It  is  altogether  likely  that  this  may  be  the 
1742   petition  referred  to  by  Watson.     See  Watson,  Annals,   II.   109. 

7.  Without   naturalization   they   could   not   bequeath   their   lands   to    their 

children. 


^60  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

"The  Assembly  passed  the  desired  legislation.^  From 
this  time  on  it  appears  that  neither  Mennonites  nor 
Amish  had  any  occasion  to  petition  for  further  civil 
exemptions,  until  the  time  of  the  Revolution,  after  the 
control  of  the  government  had  passed  out  of  the  hands 
of  the  Quakers  and  when  all  non-resistant  sects  found 
it  difficult  to  maintain  a  strictly  neutral  attitude  to- 
ivard  the  war. 

Maryland  is  the  only  state  to  mention  the  Men- 
nonites   by    name    in    its    constitution.       Article    36 

in  the  Declaration  of  Rights 
Maryland  Constitution  drawn  up  by  the  Constitutional 
Exempts  Mennonites         Convention     of     1776    declares 

that 

the  manner  of  administering  an  oath  to  any  person  ought  to 
be  such  as  those  of  the  religious  persuasion,  profession  or 
denomination  of  which  such  person  is  one  generally  esteem 
the  most  effectual  confirmation,  by  the  attestation  of  the 
Divine  being,  and  that  the  people  called  Quakers  and  those 
called  Dunkers,  and  those  called  Menonists  holding  it  unlaw- 
ful to  take  an  oath  on  any  occasion  ought  to  be  allowed  to 
make  their  solemn  affirmation  in  the  manner  that  Quakers 
have  been  heretofore  allowed  to  affirm  and  to  be  of  the  same 
avail  as  an  oath  in  all  such  cases  as  the  affirmation  of  Quakers 
has  been  allowed  and  accepted  within  this  state  instead  of 
an  oath.  And  further  on  such  affirmation,  warrants  to  search 
for  stolen  goods,  or  the  apprehension  or  commitment  of 
offenders,  ought  to  be  granted  or  security  for  the  peace 
awarded  and  Quakers,  Tunkers  and  Menonists  ought  also 
on  their  solemn  affirmation  as  aforesaid  to  be  admitted  as 
witnesses  in  all  criminal  cases  not  capital. 


Votes  of  Assembly,  III.  505.  The  Records  call  them  German  Pro- 
testants. They  were  not  Quakers  but  were  scrupulous  of  taking  any 
oath.  Hazard  calls  them  Ornish  (See  Hazard  Register  V.  21)  and 
I  am  inclined  to  think  that  this  is  the  petition  quoted  in  Hazard 
VII.      151. 


MENNONITES  AND  THE  STATE  361 

In  1794  the  General  Assembly  confirmed  this 
article  and  further  enacted  that  Quakers,  Menonists 
and  Tunkers  when  elected  to  any  civil  office  might 
substitute  a  simple  affirmation  for  the  usual  oath.* 
In  1797  a  law  was  passed  to  the  effect  that  before  any 
of  the  above  mentioned  were  to  be  admitted  as  a  wit- 
ness in  a  court  of  justice 

the  court  shall  be  satisfied  by  such  testimony  as  they  may 
require,  that  such  person  is  one  of  those  who  profess  to  be 
conscientiously  scrupulous  of  taking  an  oath. 

In  Virginia  there  was  less  religious  liberty  before 
the  Revolution  than  in   Pennsylvania  and  Maryland. 
Here    there    was    an    established 
Virginia  State  church  which  enjoyed  many 

Liberal  toward  civil  and  religious  privileges  that 

Mennonite  Scruples  were  denied  the  other  denomina- 
tions. This  church  was  sup- 
ported out  of  the  common  funds,  controlled  very 
largely  the  education  of  the  youth,  and  her  priests 
alone  could  perform  marriage  rites.  Other  denomina- 
tions by  the  time  of  the  Revolution  were  generally 
permitted  freedom  of  worship,  but  in  addition  to  sup- 
porting themselves  they  were  compelled  to  help  keep 
up  the  established  church. 

The  Shenandoah  Valley,  where  the  Mennonites 
were  located,  contained  comparatively  few  Anglicans. 
Many  of  the  early  settlers  were  Dissenters,  Baptists, 


9.     Kilty,    Laws    of    Maryland,    II.    1794,    Ch.    49.     See   also    Index    under 
Menonist  and  Quaker. 


362  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

Presbyterians,  Mennonites,  Quakers  and  Tunkers.^" 
Here  the  established  faith  was  especially  unpopular, 
and  in  the  struggle  for  religious  liberty  in  Virginia  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Valley  played  a  conspicuous  role. 
All  the  dissenting  churches  maintained  a  vigorous 
fight  for  exemption  from  the  payment  of  tithes,  and 
for  equal  privileges  to  perform  marriage  rites  among 
their  own  number.  The  Mennonites  and  Quakers 
furthermore  were  compelled  to  demand  the  additional 
exemption  from  the  oath  and  military  service. 

The  Mennonites,  as  we  have  seen,  came  into  the 
Valley  before  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
but  some  were  driven  back  into  Pennsylvania  again 
before  1758.  They  must  have  returned  in  considerable 
numbers  again  before  the  Revolution,  for  we  find  in 
the  Records  of  the  House  of  Burgesses  for  June  15, 
1775,  a  petition 

of  the  community  of  Christians  called  Menonists  presented 
to  the  House  and  read,  setting  forth  that  the  petitioners  hold 
it  to  be  contrary  to  the  Word  of  God  to  swear  in  any  matter 
whatever  so  that  they  can  not  become  witnesses  in  matters 
•of  controversy  depending  in  any  court  nor  can  execute  the 
office  of  Executor  of  any  Testament,  nor  undertake  the  ad- 
ministration of  any  intestate's  estate  whereby  they  suffer 
many  inconveniences,  and  therefore  praying  that  they  may 
have  the  same  liberty  of  affirming  to  the  Truth  of  any  matter 
as  is  indulged  to  the  people  called  Quakers,  whose  religious 
persuasion  that  of  the  Petitioners  nearly  resemble. "^^ 

This  petition  was  referred  to  the  committee  for 


10.  In    1780    a    new    marriage    law    making    concessions    to    Quakers    and 

Mennonites  was  passed.     See  Henning,  X.   362. 

"There  were  not  many  church  of  England  ministers  in  the  Valley 
and  they  had  to  ride  far  and  charged  exhorbitant  prices.  Wedding 
parties  often  had  to  go  to  them."— Foote,  Sketches  of  Virginia,  331. 

11.  Kennedy,  Journal  of  the  House  of  Burgesses,  217. 


MENNONITES  AND  THE  STATE  363 

religion  who  were  ordered  to  examine  the  matter  and 
report  the  same  with  their  opinion  thereupon  to  the 
next  house.  Although  there  seems  to  be  no  record 
of  any  statute  passed  in  consequence  of  this  request 
it  is  likely  that  the  Mennonites  were  granted  the  same 
privileges  as  the  Quakers  in  this  as  in  other  matters 
of  religious  toleration. 

The  Mennonites  were  also  among  the  first  in  the 
state  of  Virginia  to  secure  legal  exemption  from  the 
marriage  laws.  In  1780  the  Assembly  enacted  that 
any  Menonist  or  Quaker  minister  might  legally  cele- 
brate the  rites  of  matrimony  and 

join  together  as  man  and  wife  those  who  may  apply  to  them, 
agreeable  to  the  rules  and  usage  of  the  respective  societies  to 
which  the  parties  to  be  married  respectively  belong.12 

The  contracting  parties  were  to  secure  marriage  certi- 
ficates from  the  proper  civil  authorities.  Any  clerk  of 
a  Mennonite  or  Quaker  meeting  who  failed  to  return 
such  certificate  within  three  months  was  subject  to  a 
line  of  five  hundred  pounds  of  tobacco.  Only  four 
ministers  of  each  sect  in  each  county  were  to  be 
granted  licenses  by  the  judge  or  elder  magistrate  to- 
perform  marriage  rites.  This  brought  no  hardship 
upon  the  Mennonites,  however,  since  at  this  time  there 
was  only  one  settlement  in  the  state  and  that  a  com- 
paratively small  one.  The  same  act  provided  that  no- 
persons  of  other  denominations  were  to  be  joined  to- 
gether in  matrimony  without  a  lawful  license  or  thrice 
publication  of  bans  in  the  respective  parishes  where 
the  parties  to  be  married  resided  in  accordance  with 
the  provisions  of  an  act  passed  in  1748. 


12.     Hcnning,   X.   361,   363. 


364  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

The  three  states  mentioned  were  the  only  ones  in 
which  Mennonites  were  found  before  1800.  After 
1800  they  spread  rapidly  into  other  states  but  nowhere 
outside  of  Maryland,  Virginia,  or  Pennsylvania,  did 
they  find  it  necessary  to  repeat  the  struggle  for  the 
right  of  affirmation.  Many  of  the  later  states,  in- 
fluenced, no  doubt,  by  the  example  of  these  older  ones, 
made  provision  either  in  their  constitutions  or  by 
statute  for  substituting  a  simple  declaration  or  affirma- 
tion for  the  usual  oath  wherever  such  oath  is  required. 
The  United  States  Constitution  provides  for  the  use 
of  the  affirmation  in  the  Presidential  and  other  oaths 
of  office,  an  alternative  which  seems  to  have  been  in- 
serted by  the  Convention  without  debate.^^ 

In  the  struggle  for  exemption  from  military  ser- 
vice the  peace  sects  frequently  encountered  a  more 

vigorous  opposition  than  in  their  de- 
Exemption  from  mand  for  the  right  of  affirmation. 
Military  Service       The    objection    to    the    oath    was    a 

question  which  was  of  little  interest 
to  others,  but  the  refusal  to  bear  arms  in 
time  of  war  was  a  matter  not  so  easily  over- 
looked and  often  misunderstood  by  their  neigh- 
bors and  those  in  authority.  In  Pennsylvania 
so  long  as  the  Quaker  regime  lasted,  the  Mennonites 
found  no  difficulty  in  practicing  their  peace  principles. 
In  fact  for  the  fifteen  years  immediately  preceding  the 
downfall  of  the  Quaker  government  in  1756  these  two 
denominations  were  forced  to  combine  their  strength 
in  a  common  fight  for  the  maintenance  of  their  peace 
principles.    These  were  the  years  of  one  of  the  Colonial 


13.     Elliot,  Debates,  V.  498. 


MENNONITES  AND  THE  STATE  365 

wars  and  of  Indian  incursions.  The  Assembly,  in 
which  the  Quakers  were  still  in  the  majority,  refused 
to  declare  war  against  the  Indians  or  provide  for  the 
defense  of  the  frontier.  The  larger  part  of  the  popula- 
tion, including  among  the  leaders,  Benjamin  Franklin 
and  Governor  Thomas,  were  strenuously  opposed  to- 
the  peaceful  measures  of  the  Quaker  Assembly.^*  The 
Quakers  although  representing  a  minority  of  the  popu- 
lation yet  were  able  to  retain  control  of  the  Assembly 
largely  through  their  political  alliance  with  the  Ger- 
man peace  sects  who  shared  the  Quaker  views  on  non- 
resistance.  We  learn  from  a  letter  written  by  Dr. 
William  Smith  in  1755  that  the  Quakers  succeeded  in 
manipulating  the  German  vote  in  such  a  way 
as  to  elect  assemblymen  from  the  German 
counties  who  were  committed  to  the  Quaker 
principles  of  government.  This  was  done  largely 
through  the  influence  of  Christopher  Sauer  the 
Dunkard  printer,  who  by  means  of  his  al- 
manacs, newspapers  and  other  German  publications,, 
had  secured  wide  acquaintance  among  the  Germans, 
and  especially  the  non-resistant  Germans — the  Men- 
nonites,  Dunkards,  Schwenkfelders  and  Moravians — 
in  the  frontier  counties.^^  It  was  through  fear  of 
military  conscription  and  heavy  taxes  that  the  Ger- 
man non-resistants  were  drawn  to  the  side  of  the 
Quakers  in  the  struggle  for  the  maintenance  of  their 
peace  policy.  Just  how  generally  and  how  effectively 
the  German  vote  was  cast  for  Quaker  assemblymen  it 
is  difificult  to  tell,  but  the  political  broadsides  printed 
by   Sauer  and   still   preserved   in   the   library   of  the 


14.  Votes  of  Assembly,  III.  364. 

15.  Sharpless,    Quakerism   and    Politics,   p.    131. 


366  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

Pennsylvania  State  Historical  Society  leave  no  doubt 
as  to  the  reality  of  the  struggle  between  the  peace  and 
war  parties  for  the  support  of  the  German  non-re- 
sistants, who  held  the  balance  of  power.  .Especially 
is  it  difficult  to  tell  just  how  much  the  Mennonites  con- 
tributed to  the  net  result  of  this  struggle.  Documents 
are  not  available  and  perhaps  not  extant  from  which 
a  conclusive  judgment  might  be  made.  It  is  alto- 
gether likely,  however,  that  the  Mennonite  vote  in 
Lancaster  county  and  perhaps  in  Bucks  did  much  to 
keep  the  Quaker  assembly  in  power  long  after  it  had 
fallen  out  of  favor  with  the  people  at  large.^'     The 


16.  The  following  letter  written  to  a  politician  in  Bucks  county  in  1765 
shows  that  even  after  the  downfall  of  the  Quaker  regime  the  Men- 
nonites were  still  a  local  political  factor  that  needed  to  be  reckoned 
with. 

"I  went  up  lately  to  Bucks  Court  in  order  to  concert  measures- 
for  their  (i.  e  some  friends)  election,  in  pursuance  of  which  we 
have  appointed  a  considerable  meeting  of  Germans,  Baptists  and 
Presbyterians  to  be  held  next  Monday  at  Neshaminy,  where  some 
of  us,  some  Germans  and  Baptists  of  this  place  have  appointed  to 
attend,  in  order  to  attempt  a  general  confederacy  of  the  three  soci- 
eties in  opposition  to  the  ruling  party.  We  have  sent  up  emis- 
saries among  the  Germans  which  I  hope  will  bring  them  into  this 
measure,  and  if  it  can  be  effected,  will  give  us  a  great  chance  for 
carrying  matters  in  that  county.  Could  that  be  carried,  it  would 
infallibly  secure  our  friends  a  majority  in  the  House,  and  conse- 
quently enable  them  to  recall  our  dangerous  enemy,  Franklin,  with 
his  petitions,  which  is  the  great  object  we  have  in  view,  and  which 
should  engage  the  endeavors  of  all  our  friends  at  the  approaching 
election  to  make  a  spirited  push  for  a  majority  in  the  Assembly, 
without   which   all    our    struggles   here   will   prove   of   little   service 

to    the    public    interest If    you    knew    thoroughly    the    methods 

Mr.  Franklin  is  taking  at  home  to  blacken  and  stigmatize  our  soci- 
ety, you  would  perhaps  judge  with  me  that  you  never  had  more 
reason  to  exert  yourselves  in  order  to  overset  him,  which  we  can- 
only  do  by  commanding  a  majority  in  the  Assembly.  I  have  seen 
a  letter  lately  from  a  person  of  character,  that  advises  us  of  hi» 
wicked  designs  against  us.  The  little  hopes  of  success,  as  well  as 
the  difficulty  of  engaging  proper  persons  for  the  purpose,  has  dis- 
courged  me  from  attempting  a  project  recommended  by  some 
friends  of  sending  up  some  Germans  to  work  upon  their  country- 


MENNONITES  AND  THE   STATE  367 

final  break  came,  as  we  saw,  in  1756,  when  the  Quakers 
lost  their  majority  in  the  Assembly  and  that  body  im- 
mediately voted  to  make  war  upon  the  Indians.  From 
this  time  on  until  the  Revolution  the  Mennonites  were 
in  constant  fear  lest  they  might  be  forced  to  violate 
their  relisrious  convictions. 


men.  But  that  no  probable  means  may  fail,  I  have  sent  up  some 
copies  of  a  piece  lately  printed  by  Sowers  of  Germantown,  to  be 
dispersed,  and  which  may  possibly  have  some  effect. 

As  I  understand  the  Mennonites  have  certainly  resolved  to  turn 
out  Isaac  Saunders  this  year,  though  the  only  good  member  your 
county  has,  I  would  beg  leave  to  offer  you  and  other  friends 
the  following  scheme,  as  the  only  probable  chance,  I  think,  you 
have  to  carry  the  election  and  keep  Mr.  Saunders.  If  the  scheme 
is  properly  executed  and  can  be  conducted  without  danger  of  a 
riot,    I    think   you    could   infallibly    carry    your   ticket   by   it. 

Don't  attempt  to  change  any  of  your  members  save  Webb.  If 
you  can  run  Dr.  Kuhn,  or  any  popular  German,  and  can  keep  Mr. 
Saunders,  you  will  do  great  things.  As  soon  as  your  ticket  is 
agreed  on  let  it  be  spread  through  the  country,  that  your  party 
intend  to  come  well  armed  to  the  election,  and  that  you  intend,  if 
there's  the  least  partiality  in  either  sht-riflf,  inspectors,  or  managers 
of  the  election  that  you  will  thrash  the  sheriff,  every  inspector, 
Quaker  or  Menonist  to  a  jelly;  and  further  I  would  report  it,  that 
not  a  Menonist  nor  German  should  be  admitted  to  give  in  a  ticket 
without  being  sworn  that  he  is  naturalized  and  worth  50  pounds  and 
that  he  has  voted  already ;  and  further,  that  if  you  discovered  any 
person  attempting  to  give  in  a  vote  without  being  naturalized,  or 
voting  twice,  you  would  that  moment  deliver  him  up  to  the  mob  to 
chastise  him.  Let  this  report  be  industriously  spread  before  the 
election  which  will  certainly  keep  great  numbers  of  the  Mennonists 
at  home.  I  would  at  the  same  time  have  all  our  friends  warned  to 
put  on  a  bold  face,  to  be  every  man  provided  with  a  shillelah,  as 
if  determined  to  put  their  threats  in  execution,  though  at  the  same 
time  let  them  be  solemnly  charged  to  keep  the  greatest  order 
and  peace.  Let  our  friends  choose  about  two  dozen  of  the  most 
reputable  men,  magistrates,  etc.,  who  shall  attend  the  inspectors, 
sheriffs  and  clerks  during  the  whole  election,  to  mount  guard  half  at 
a  time,  and  relieve  one  another  at  spells,  to  prevent  all  cheating  and 
administer  the  oath  to  every  suspicious  person,  and  to  commit  to 
immediate  punishment  every  one  who  offers  to  vote  twice.  I'll  en- 
gage if  you  conduct  the  election  in  that  manner,  and  our  people  turn 
out  with  spirit,  you  can't  fail  of  carrying  every  man  on  your  ticket, 
as  I  am  well  assured  not  a  third  of  the  Mennonists  are  naturalized, 
I  would  submit  this  to  your  consideration.     If  its  well  thought  of. 


368  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

During  the  early  stages  of  the  Revolution  there 
was  little  of  united  action  in  preparing  for  the  common 
defense.      Each    colony    mustered 
Associators  during      its  own   militia,  provided  its  own 
the  Revolution  arms  and  ammunition  and  in  gene- 

ral regulated  its  own  affairs  re- 
gardless of  what  other  colonies  or  the  Continental 
Congress  were  doing.  Early  in  1775  the  Assembly  of 
Pennsylvania  recommended  that  all  able-bodied  white 
male  inhabitants  of  the  province  "associate"  for  the 
common  defence.  Those  who  would  not  join  such 
voluntary  military  organizations  were  called  "non- 
associators."  Remembering,  however,  that  many  of 
the  people  of  Southeastern  Pennsylvania  were 
Quakers,  Mennonites,  Dunkards  and  of  other  non- 
resistant  denominations,  the  Assembly  on  June  30,. 
1775,  since 

many  of  the  good  People  of  this  Province  are  conscien- 
tiously scrupulous  of  bearing  arms  further  recommended  to 
the  associators  for  the  defence  of  their  county  and  others,, 
that  they  bear  a  tenderly  and  brotherly  Regard  toward  this 
class  of  their  Fellow  subjects  and  Countrymen. ^'^ 

To  these  conscientious  people  on  the  other  hand  it  was- 
suggested  that 

they  cheerfully  assist  in  proportion  to  their  abilities  such 
associators  as  can  not  spend  their  time  and  substance  in  the 
Public  Service  without  great  injury  to  themselves. 


take  your  measures  immediately,  I  beg  no  mention  may  be  made  of 
the  author  of  this.  I  see  no  danger  in  the  scheme  but  that  of  a 
riot,  which  would  require  great  prudence  to  avoid."  Samuel  Pur- 
viance,  Philadelphia,  to  Col.  Burd,  quoted  by  Thomas  Balch,  in 
Letters  and  Papers  Relating  chiefly  to  the  Provincial  History  of 
Pennsylvania.  (Phil  1885).  209.  Quoted  also  in  Hart's  Source 
Book,  p.  127. 
17.     Votes  of  Assembly,   I.    594. 


MENNONITES  AND  THE  STATE  369 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  while  the  Mennonites  were 
excused  from  military  service  it  was  suggested  that 
they  pay  for  the  privilege. 

There  was  much  opposition  from  the  various 
military  associations  to  this  lenient  policy  of  the  As- 
sembly. Many  petitions  soon  came  in  complaining 
that  the  people  who  were  religiously  scrupulous  were 
few  compared  to  those  who  "made  conscience  a  con- 
venience." A  very  considerable  share  of  the  property 
they  said  was  in  the  hands  of  people  professing  tender 
conscience  in  military  matters.^*  They  were  especially 
opposed  to  the  arrangement  by  which  the  non-com- 
batants were  allowed  to  make  voluntary  contribu- 
tions. The  proportion  each  was  to  pay  they 
said  ought  to  be  fixed.  No  doubt  these  contribu- 
tions were  not  large,  but  the  Quakers  were  out  and 
out  opposed  to  paying  at  all.  They  objected  as  con- 
scientiously to  the  supporting  of  war  by  money  as  to 
the  bearing  of  arms.^^  The  Mennonites  were  less  con- 
sistent. While  they  would  not  carry  weapons  them- 
selves, they  appear  generally  not  to  have  objected  to 
supporting  the  cause  by  their  means. 

As  a  result  of  these  petitions  the  Assembly  re- 
solved on  Nov.  7,  1775,  that  all  non-associators  con- 
tribute an  equivalent  to  the  time  spent  by  the  as- 
sociators  in  acquiring  military  discipline.-*'  Ministers 
and  servants  alone  were  excepted.  In  order  that  no  one 
might  escape  paying  his  just  portion  it  was  further 
ordered  on  November  24,  that  the  committee  which 
was  appointed  to  adjust  the  accounts  of  the  various  bat- 


is.     Votes  of  Assembly,  I.   (Sep.  27,  1775). 

19.  Votes,  I.  635. 

20.  Votes,    I.    (Nov.    7,    1775). 


370  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

talions  of  associators,  be  directed  to  make  particular 
enquiry  concerning  the  contributions  made 

by  the  people  called  Menonists,  Amisli  Menonists  and  Sunday- 
Baptists  (possibly  the  Ephrata  Dunkards  in  Lancaster  county) 
in  pursuance  of  the  late  House  of  Assembly  on  the  thirtieth 
of  June  last,  and  report  to  this  house  at  their  next  meeting 
how  much  of  the   said  contributions  has  been  paid. 21 

The  Mennonites  fearing  that  their  position  might 
be  misunderstood  and  that  they  might  be  forced  to 

join  the  associators  sent  (in 
Mennonite  and  Dunkard  conjunction  with  the  German 
Petition   of   1775  Baptists)  a  petition  to  the  As- 

sembly in  which  they  stated 
definitely  that  although  they  could  not  conscientiously 
take  up  arms  in  defence  of  their  country,  yet  they  had 
always  thought  it  their  duty  to  pay  tribute.  The 
petition  was  reported  in  the  Assembly  on  November 
7.  In  spite  of  its  length  it  is  given  in  full  here  in  the 
hope  that  it  may  throw  some  light  upon  the  subject 
under  discussion. 

An  address  or  Declaration  by  divers  persons  in  Behalf 
of  the  Societies  of  Mennonists  and  German  Baptists  in  this 
Province  was  presented  to  the  House  and  follows  in  these 
words,  viz.. 

In  the  first  place  we  acknowledge  us  indebted  to  the  most 
high  God,  who  created  Heaven  and  Earth,  the  only  good 
Being  to  thank  him  for  all  His  great  Goodness  and  Manifold 
Mercies  and  Love  through  our  Savior  Jesus  Christ  who  is 
come  to  save  the  souls  of  Men,  having  all  Power  in  Heaven 
and  on  Earth.  Further  we  find  ourselves  indebted  to  be 
thankful  to  our  late  worthy  assembly  for  their  giving  so  good 
an  Advice  in  these  troublesome  Times  to  all  Ranks  of  People 


21.     Votes,  I.  653. 


MENNONITES  AND  THE  STATE  371 

in  Pennsylvania,  particularly  in  allowing  those,  who,  by  the 
Doctrine  of  our  Savior,  Jesus  Christ  are  persuaded  in  their 
consciences  to  love  their  enemies,  and  not  to  resist  Evil,  to 
enjoy  the  Liberty  of  their  Consciences  for  which,  as  also  for 
all  the  good  Things  we  enjoyed  under  their  Care,  we  heartily 
thank  that  worthy  Body  of  Assembly  and  all  high  and  low  in 
office  who  have  advised  to  such  a  peaceful  measure  hoping 
and  confiding  that  they  and  all  others  entrusted  with  Power 
in  this  hitherto  blessed  Province,  may  be  moved  by  the  same 
spirit  of  Grace  which  animated  the  first  Founder  of  this 
Province,  our  late  worthy  Proprietor  William  Penn  to  grant 
Liberty  of  Conscience  to  all  its  inhabitants  that  they  may 
in  the  great  and  memorable  Day  of  Judgment  be  put  on  the 
right  Hand  of  that  just  Judge,  who  judgeth  without  Respect 
of  Person  and  hear  of  him  these  blessed  Words,  "Come  ye 
blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for  you, 
etc.,  what  ye  have  done  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these  my 
Brethren  ye  have  done  unto  me,"  among  which  number  (i.  e. 
the  least  of  Christ's  Brethren)  we  by  his  Grace  hope  to  be 
ranked;  and  every  Lenity  and  Favour  shewn  to  such  tender 
conscience,  although  weak,  Followers  of  this  our  blessed 
Saviour  will  not  be  forgotten  by  him  in  that  great  Day. 

The  Advice  to  those  who  do  not  find  Freedom  of  Con- 
science to  take  up  Arms  that  they  ought  to  be  helpful  to 
those  who  are  in  Need  and  distressed  Circumstances  we  re- 
ceive with  Cheerfulness  towards  all  Men  of  what  Station  they 
may  be — it  being  our  Principle  to  feed  the  Hungry  and  give 
the  Thirsty  Drink.  We  have  dedicated  ourselves  to  serve  all 
Men  in  Every  Thing  that  can  be  helpful  to  the  Preservation 
of  Men's  Lives  but  we  find  no  Freedom  in  giving  or  doing, 
or  assisting,  in  anything  by  which  Men's  Lives  are  destroyed 
or  hurt. — We  beg  the  Patience  of  all  those  who  believe  we  err 
on  this  Point.  We  are  always  ready,  according  to  Christ's 
command  to  Peter,  to  pay  the  Tribute,  that  we  may  offend 
no  Man,  and  so  we  are  willing  to  pay  Taxes,  and  so  render 
unto  Caesar  those  Things  that  are  Caesar's  and  to  Godd  those 
Things  that  are  God's.  Although  we  think  ourselves  very 
weak  to  give  God  his  due  Honour  he  being  a  Spirit  and  Life, 
and  we  only  Dust  and  Ashes.  We  are  also  willing  to  be 
subject  to  the  higher  Powers  and  give  in  the  manner  Paul 


372  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

directs  us:  for  he  beareth  the  Sword  not  in  vain,  for  he  is 
the  Minister  of  God,  a  Revenger  to  execute  wrath  upon  him 
that  doeth  Evil.  This  Testimony  we  lay  down  before  our 
worthy  Assembly  and  all  other  Persons  in  Government, 
letting  them  kno^vi  that  we  are  thankful  as  above  mentioned 
and  that  we  are  not  at  Liberty  in  Conscience  to  take  up 
Arms  to  conquer  our  Enemies  but  rather  to  pray  to  God, 
who  has  Power  in  Heaven  and  Earth,  for  us  and  them.  We 
also  crave  the  Patience  of  all  the  Inhabitants  of  this  Country 
what  they  think  to  see  clearer  in  the  Doctrine  of  the  blessed 
Jesus  Christ,  we  will  leave  to  them  and  God,  finding  ourselves 
very  poor;  for  Faith  is  to  proceed  out  of  the  Word  of  God, 
w;hich  is  Life  and  Spirit,  and  a  Power  of  God  and  our  Con- 
science is  to  be  instructed  by  the  same,  therefore  we  beg 
for  Patience,  our  small  Gift,  which  we  have  given,  we  gave 
to  those  who  have  power  over  us,  that  we  may  not  offend 
them,  as  Christ  taught  us  by  the  Tribute  Penny.  We  heartily 
pray,  that  God  would  govern  all  Hearts  of  our  Rulers,  be 
they  high  or  low,  to  meditate  those  good  Things  which  per- 
tain to  our  and  their  Happiness.  (Ordered  to  lie  on  the 
table).22 

As  we  have  just  seen,  military  exemption  was 
granted  by  the  Assembly  to  all  non-resistants  on  the 
very  day  this  petition  was  received.  This  provision 
obtained  throughout  the  war  and  was  re-enacted  later. 
'The  Constitution  of  1790  declared  that  "those  who  con- 
scientiously scruple  to  bear  arms  shall  not  be  com- 
pelled to  bear  arms  but  shall  pay  an  equivalent  for 
personal  service."  This  article  was  preserved  in  later 
-constitutions  and  is  a  part  of  the  fundamental  law  of 
Pennsylvania  today. 

In  Maryland  there  were  comparatively  few  Men- 
nonites  before  the  Revolution.  Their  influence  was 
much  less  than  that  of  their  Pennsylvania  brethren 
and  thus  they  met  less  opposition  to  their  demands. 


22.     Votes  of  Assembly,  I.  645. 


MENNONITES  AND  THE  STATE  Z72> 

But  here,  too,  they  had  to  resort  to  petition  for  all  the 
exemptions  they  enjoyed.    The  pe- 
Maryland   Exempts     tition    for    freedom    from    military 
•on  Payment  service    is    not    to    be    found    any- 

of  War  Tax  where    in    the    published    records, 

but  a  resolution  recorded  in  the 
minutes  of  the  Constitutional  Contention  of  1776 
■shows  us  what  its  contents  must  have  been.  Under 
date  of  July  6,  the  following  entry  occurs  in  the 
Journal  on  the  reading  of  the  petition  of  the  "Society 
of  Mennonites  and  German  Baptists  :" 

Resolved  that  the  several  committees  of  observation  may 
at  their  discretion  prolong  the  time  or  take  security  for  the 
payment  of  any  fine  by  them  imposed  for  not  enrolling  in  the 
militia  and  may  remit  the  whole  or  any  part  of  the  fines  by 
•them  assessed  and  it  is  recommended  to  the  committees  to 
pay  particular  attention  and  to  make  a  difference  between 
such  persons  as  may  refuse  from  religious  principles  or  other 
tnotives.23 

The  Mennonites  were  exempted  from  militia  duty  but 
were  under  obligations  during  the  war  to  pay  a  fine  if 
the  local  committee  of  observation  saw  fit  to  collect  it. 
These  same  provisions  were  re-enacted  later.  The 
law  of  1793  provided  that  "Quakers,  Menonists  and 
Tunkers  and  all  others  who  are  conscientiously  scru- 
pulous of  bearing  arms  and  who  refuse  to  do  militia 
<luty  shall  pay  a  sum  of  three  dollars  annually."  In 
1811  a  new  act  exempted  Quakers,  Menonists  and 
Tunkers  between  18  and  45  years  of  age  on  payment 
of  five  dollars  annually.  This  would  excuse  them, 
however,  only  from  the  militia  musters  in  time  of 
peace.    When  called  into  active  service  all  were  com- 


23.     Am.  Arch.  4th  Sen,  VI.   1504. 


374  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

pelled  to  enlist.  The  law  of  1834  says  nothing  about 
fines  but  declares  that  all  Quakers,  Menonists  and 
Tunkers  must  submit  to  the  commanding  officer  of 
the  district  a  certificate  from  a  licensed  preacher  in 
the  Society  who  shall  certify  of  their  good  standing 
in  their  respective  churches.  This  legislation  con- 
tinued practically  unchanged  until  the  time  of  the 
Civil  war.-* 

Virginia   was    exceedingly    liberal    in   her    militia 
laws  at  first.     In  1766  the  Quakers  were  granted  en- 
tire    exemption     from     all     militia 
Virginia    Liberal        duty,'^  and  in  July,  1775,  the  same 
in  Military  Laws       favorable   terms    were   extended   to 
the  Mennonites.-''    During  the  Rev- 
olutionary   war,    however,    there    arose    considerable 
opposition  among  those  who  lived  in  Mennonite  com- 
munities  to   this   liberal   policy.     The   Committee   of 
Observation    in    Frederick    county 
Frederick  County      presented    a    petition    to    the    Con- 
Objects.     1776  stitutional  Convention  on  June   19, 
1776,  in  which  they  set  forth  that 
altogether   they    had    a    tender    regard    for   the    con- 
scientious scruples  of  every  religious  society,  they  at 
the  same  time  thought  it  an  injustice  to  subject  "one 
part  of  the  community  to  the  whole  burden  of  govern- 
ment while  others  equally  share  the  benefits  of  it." 
They  suggested  that  all  Quakers  and  Mennonites  be 
compelled  to  pay  a  sum  of  money  assessed  by  the 


24.  Kilty,    Laws   of   Maryland,    II.    1793,    Ch.    S3;     Ibid,    1798.    Ch.    100; 

Kilty,   Harris  and  Watkins,   Laws  of  Maryland,  IV,   1811.   Ch.   182. 

Sec.   12,  44.   18;    Ibid,   1812,  Ch.  9.    Sec.  2. 

Hughes,  Laws  of  Maryland,  (183S)    1834,  Ch.  251.  Sec.   1. 

25.  Hcning,  VIIL  242. 

.26.     Hening,   IX.   34;    also   IX.    139. 


MENNONITES  AND  THE  STATE  375 

county  court  for  failure  to  appear  at  the  militia  mus- 
ters and  that  in  case  of  active  service  they  should  be 
drafted  in  the  same  proportion  as  the  other  inhabitants 
of  the  county;  if  they  refused  to  serve  then  they  were 
to  furnish  a  substitute.-^ 

This   petition   evidently  had   some   effect,   for  in 
October  of  the  following  year  these  suggestions  were 

embodied  in  a  new  law.  Accord- 
Militia  Act  During  ing  to  this  act  Mennonites  when 
Civil  War  drafted  were  to  be  discharged,  but 

were  under  obligation  to  furnish  a 
substitute  who  was  to  be  paid  for  by  a  levy  on  the 
membership  of  the  entire  church.^^  This  law  remained 
in  force  with  practically  few  changes  until  the  Civil 
war.  The  Code  of  Laws  in  force  in  1860  made  no 
direct  mention  of  Mennonites,  but  provided  for  a 
minimum  fine  of  seventy  five  cents  on  all  privates 
who  failed  to  attend  militia  musters  or  other  meetings 
required  by  law.  This  fine  of  course  the  Mennonites 
paid  each  year.  Virginia,  however,  under  the  pressure 
of  the  Civil  war  soon  resorted  to  more  severe  measures. 
The  militia  act  of  1862  exempted  those  who  were  pre- 
vented from  bearing  arms  by  the  tenets  of  the  church 
to  which  they  belonged,  only  on  the  following  condi- 
tions: (1)  that  they  pay  to  the  sheriff  of  the  county 
the  sum  of  $500,  and  the  further  sum  of  two  per  cent 
of  the  assessed  value  of  all  their  taxable  property; 
(2)  that  they  take  the  oath  or  affirmation  of  allegiance 
to  the  Confederate  government ;  (3)  in  case  they  re- 
fuse to  pay  the  said  fine  then  they  shall  be  employed 
in  the  capacity  of  teamsters  or  in  such  other  character 


27.  Am.  Arch.  4th  Sen,  VI.   1579. 

28.  Hening,  IX.  345.     See  also  X.  314,  261,  417 ;    XL  18;    XII.  24. 


Zl(>  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

as  the  service  may  need  which  does  not  require  the 
actual  bearing  of  arms ;  (4)  and  provided  further  that 
.all  persons  thus  exempted  surrender  all  arms  which 
they  may  own  for  the  public  use.-^  This  law  was  soon 
succeeded  and  partially  annulled  by  the  Conscription 
Act  of  the  Confederate  government  in  October  of  the 
same  year.  The  Constitution  of  1870  finally  provided 
for  militia  exemption  on  payment  of  a  fine,  but  no 
musters  are  required  in  time  of  peace. 

Many  of  the  newer  states,  influenced  either  by 
the  direct  petitions  of  non-resistants  or  by  the  example 
of  the  three  states  already  named, 
Many  States  Exempt     have  since  provided  either  intheir 
irom  Oath  and  constitutions  or  by  statute  for  the 

Military  Service  conscientious    scruples   of   those 

opposed  to  militia  duty.  Militia 
service,  furthermore,  is  now  practically  everywhere 
placed  on  a  voluntary  basis  and  consequently  there 
is  no  longer  any  military  question  in  this  country  for 
the  Mennonite.  Even  in  the  case  of  actual  war  it  is 
not  likely  that  conscription  acts  will  be  necessary  as 
was  true  in  the  late  rebellion. 

Thus  far  we  have  been  concerned  with  the  relation 
of  the  Mennonites  to  the  colonial  and  state  govern- 
ments. The  Civil  war  brought  them  into 
Conscription  direct  touch  for  the  first  time  with  na- 
Act  of  1864  tional  legislation.  During  the  early  years 
of  the  struggle  the  national  government 
found  comparatively  little  difftculty  in  keeping 
the  armies  supplied  with  men.  After  the  first 
flush   of   enthusiasm   and   patriotic    ardor   had   spent 


29.     See  Militia  Act,  March  29,  1862,  in  Acts  of  the  General  Assembly  of 
Va.    1861-2.     (Richmond,   1862)   p.  SO. 


MENNONITES  AND  THE  STATE  Zll 

itself,  however,  and  it  was  seen  that  the  war  was  to 
be  long  and  bloody,  it  became  evident  that  the  ranks 
could  not  be  kept  full  by  volunteers  alone.  On  March 
3,  1863,  an  act  was  passed  for  the  enrolling  of  the 
national  forces,  one  section  of  which  provided  for  a 
draft  if  necessary.  There  is  no  reference  whatever  in 
this  act  to  exemptions  on  religious  grounds.  On  Feb. 
24,  1864,  a  more  stringent  conscription  act  was  passed. 
Section  17  of  this  measure  exempts  in  general  terms  all 
the  non-resistant  denominations  and  reads  as  follows : 

And  be  it  further  enacted,  that  members  of  religious 
denominations  who  shall  by  oath  or  affirmation  declare  that 
they  are  conscientiously  opposed  to  the  bearing  of  arms  and 
who  are  prohibited  from  doing  so  by  the  rules  and  articles  of 
faith  and  practice  of  said  religious  denominations,  shall  when 
drafted  into  the  military  service  be  considered  non-com- 
batants, and  shall  be  assigned  by  the  Secretary  of  War  to 
duty  in  hospitals  or  to  the  care  of  freedom,  or  shall  pay  the 
sum  of  $300  to  such  person  as  the  Secretary  of  War  shall 
designate,  to  be  applied  to  the  benefit  of  the  sick  and  wounded 
soldiers:  Provided,  that  no  person  shall  be  entitled  to  the 
benefit  of  the  provisions  of  this  section  unless  his  declaration 
of  conscientious  scruples  against  bearing  arms  shall  be  sup- 
ported by  satisfactory  evidence  that  his  deportment  has  been 
uniformly  consistant  with  such  declaration.^^ 

Although  these  provisions  are  worded  in  general 
terms,  yet  they  are  meant  to  apply  to  specific  non- 
resistant  denominations,  all  of  which  had  been  send- 
ing in  petitions  since  the  spring  of  1863  asking  for 
exemption  from  compulsory  service.  This  section  was 
as  much  debated  in  Congress  as  any  other  in  the  bill 
and  every  particular  provision  in  it  was  the  result  of 
careful   consideration   both   on   the   floor  of  the   two 


30.     United  States  Stat,  at  Large,  Vol.  13,  Chap.  XIII.  Sec.  17. 


378  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

houses  and  in  the  committee  rooms.  Without  these 
various  petitions  section  17  would  never  have  been  a 
part  of  the  act.  The  Quakers  no  doubt  were  the  most 
influential  in  securing  the  exemption.  They  were 
better  known  than  the  other  denominations,  were  the 
most  vigorous  petitioners,  and  had  some  influence 
among  those  in  authority.^^  But  the  Mennonites  de- 
serve no  little  credit  for  the  final  result.  They  had  in 
Thaddeus  Stevens  from  Lancaster,  who  was  then  one 
■of  the  most  prominent  members  of  the  Lower  House, 
a  warm  friend  and  staunch  defender  of  their  interests. 
Being  from  Lancaster  he  was  thoroughly  acquainted 
w^ith  their  principles,  and  as  a  lawyer  he  did  much  of 
the  legal  business  for  the  Mennonites  of  the  county. 
These  were  usually  Republican  in  their  political  beliefs 
and  voted  solidly  for  Stevens.  As  a  part  of  his  con- 
stituency he  could  not  afiford  to  lose  their  support, 
Stevens  did  not  take  a  leading  part  in  the  debates  on 
the  floor  of  the  House  but  in  the  committee  room, 
where  after  all  the  most  of  the  legislation  is  made,  he 
was  frequently  consulted,^-  and  no  doubt  had  consider- 
able to  do  in  the  outlining  of  the  main  features  of  the 
hill. 

While  this  is  not  exclusively  a  Mennonite  measure 
yet  it  became  the  act  under  which  Mennonites  all  over 
the  country  were  drafted  into  service  in  1864.  And 
since  Mennonites  were  to  a  certain  extent  responsible 
for  one  section  of  the  bill  it  may  not  be  out  of  order  here 
to  recount  briefly  its  history  in  Congress.    An  analysis 


31.  Senator    Anthony    and    Secretary    Stanton    were    of    Quaker    descent. 

See  Cartland,  Southern  Heroes,  p.  129. 

32.  Congressional  Globe,  38  Cong.  1st.  session,  Part  I.     See  Index  under 

Army,  bill   (36). 


MENNONITES  AND  THE  STATE  379 

of  its  history  will  help  us  also  to  understand  what  each 
of  the  non-resistant  denominations  contributed  to  its 
final  form. 

As  early  as  December  16,  1863,  a  motion  was 
made  to  amend  the  army  bill  that  had  been  passed  the 
previous  spring.^^  The  old  bill  contained  a  $300  com- 
mutation clause  in  accordance  with  which  one  could 
pay  $300  in  lieu  of  actual  service  when  drafted.  Ac- 
cording to  the  new  bill  this  clause  was  to  be  repealed. 
It  was  this  proposed  repeal  that  brought  in  the  peti- 
tions from  the  peace  denominations.  The  first  petition 
to  be  introduced  came  on  December  23,  1863,  from  the 
Amana  Society  in  Iowa.  On  January  6,  1864,  a  peti- 
tion was  read  from  the  Quakers  of  Baltimore  and  New 
York,  who  objected  not  only  to  the  repeal  of  the  clause 
but  to  any  exemption  clause  with  a  money  fine  at- 
tached. As  in  former  years  they  objected  just  as 
seriously  to  the  payment  of- money  for  war  purposes 
as  to  actual  military  service.  Other  petitions  were 
soon  sent  in  by  the  Mennonites,  Dunkards,  Shakers 
and   Moravians. 

A  new  bill  had  finally  been  introduced  in  the 
Senate  on  December  16.  The  first  mention  of  an  ex- 
emption clause  appears  on  January  14,  when  Senator 
Wilson  moved  that  "all  members  of  religious  denomi- 
nations conscientiously  opposed  to  bearing  arms,  be 
assigned  to  hospital  service  or  pay  $300."  Harlan  wha 
was  afraid  lest  this  might  be  made  to  cover  many  who 
were  not  members  of  such  denominations  added  the 
clause  "and  are  prohibited  from  doing  so  by  the  rules 
and  articles  of  faith  of  said  religious  denominations."" 
Doolittle  then  moved  to  amend  by  exempting  "those 


33.     Congressional  Globe,  38  Cong.,   1st  Sess.   Part  I.  p.  37. 


380  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

of  good  standing."  The  entire  day  was  taken  up  in 
discussing  this  exemption  clause  and  especially  the 
Quakers'  objection  to  the  payment  of  money.  In  order 
to  overcome  these  scruples  it  was  proposed  that  this 
exemption  money  should  be  applied  to  the  care  of  the 
sick  and  wounded.  The  bill  was  passed  by  the  Senate 
on  the  19th  with  the  following  exemption  clause: 

1.  Those  religiously  opposed  to  military  service  are  to 
be  assigned  by  the  Secretary  of  War  to  duty  in  the  hospitals 
or  to  the  care  of  freedmen. 

2.  If  they  refuse  to  serve  then  they  are  to  pay  the  sum 
of  $400  to  be  applied  to  the  care  of  the  sick  and  wounded. 

3.  Such  persons  are  to  be  exempted  from  the  draft 
during  the  time  for  v/hich  they  have  been  drafted. 

The  bill  was  brought  to  the  House,  read  and  dis- 
cussed. Stevens  immediately  moved  to  reduce  the 
exemption  money  from  $400  to  $300.  Schneck  pro- 
posed that  the  clause  referring  to  the  disposition  of 
the  $300  be  stricken  out,  whereupon  Stevens  spoke 
in  behalf  of  the  Quakers.  "I  do  not  think,"  he  said, 
"that  we  ought  to  violate  their  religious  belief."  Mr. 
Denning,  chairman  of  the  committee  which  drafted 
the  bill,  explained  the  difficulty  the  committee  had  in 
agreeing  on  the  details  of  the  exemption  clause.  His 
statement  contains  several  interesting  facts  and  shows 
that  others  in  addition  to  those  who  took  part  in  the 
open  debate  in  the  House,  were  responsible  for  its 
final  form.  He  said,  the  committee  in  drafting  their 
amendment  had  before  them  petitions  from  Quakers, 
Society  of  Ebenezer,  Amana  Society,  Dunker,  Shaker, 
and  Moravians. 

There   are   also  the    Mennonites,   he    said,   whose   conscience 


MENNONITES  AND  THE  STATE  381 

tells  them  to  take  no  oath,  to  do  violence  to  no  man,  to  take 
patiently  the  spoiling  of  their  goods,  to  pray  for  their 
enemies,  and  to  feed  and  refresh  them  when  hungry  or 
thirsty.2*  It  was  thought  such  a  vast  door  would  be  opened 
by  admitting  conscientious  scruples  as  a  ground  of  exemption 
that  the  committee  was  in  favor  of  rejecting  it  altogether. 
From  the  best  information  we  could  get  there  are  now  about 
500,000  non-resistants  in  this  country,  and  if  this  principle  is 
once  adopted  there  will  be  an  active  revival  among  all  the 
non-resistants  soon  and  their  ranks  will  be  suddenly  and  fully 
recruited,  at  least  it  was  in  view  of  the  immense  number  that 
might  claim  conscientious  scruples  as  a  ground  of  exemption 
either  truly  or  falsely,  that  induced  the  committee  to  oppose 
conscientious  scruples  altogether. 

Had  it  not  been  for  Stevens  and  others  who  were  sup- 
ported by  large  non-resistant  constituencies  the  clause 
might  have  been  omitted  altogether. 

But,  continues  Denning,  upon  consultation  with  members 
upon  this  floor,  particularly  members  representing  non-re- 
sistant constituencies  we  found  that  there  is  an  earnest  wish 
so  far  as  their  respective  districts  are  concerned,  that  some 
amendment  of  this  kind  should  be  introduced  into  the  bill. 

The  debate  continued  at  intervals  all  through 
January  and  far  into  February.  On  the  tenth  of  the 
latter  month  Creswell  moved  to  amend  the  exemption 
clause  which  was  now  section  17  of  the  original  army 
bill   by  the  addition : 

that  no  person  shall  be  entitled  to  the  benefits  of  the  pro- 
visions of  this  section  unless  his  declaration  of  conscientious' 
scruples  against  bearing  arms  shall  be  supported  by  satis- 
factory evidence  that  his  deportment  has  been  uniformly 
consistent  with  such  declaration. 


34.     Congressional  Globe,  38  Cong.   1st  Sess.   Part  I.  p.   579. 


382  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

The  bill  finally  passed  the  House,  was  slightly 
altered  by  the  Senate,  and  with  the  exemption  clause 
as  stated  in  the  beginning  of  this  discussion,  it  was 
signed  by  the  president  on  February  24,  and  thus  be- 
came the  law  of  the  land.  How  the  Mennonites  fared 
under  this  law  during  the  fall  of  1864  is  told  in  other 
chapters. 

In  the  meantime  the  same  subject  had  been  up  in 
the  Congress  of  the  Confederacy.  During  the  summer 
of  1862  a  new  army  bill  was  introduced. 
Conscription  During  August  and  September  a  number 
Acts  of  the  of  the  peace  denominations  of  Virginia 
Confederacy  sent  memorials  to  the  Congress  asking 
for  exemption  from  service.^^  The  bill 
which  passed  October  11,  1862,  released  from  military 
duty  all  persons 

who  have  been  and  now  are  members  of  the  Society  of 
Friends,  and  the  Association  of  Dunkards,  Nazarenes,  and 
Mennonists  in  regular  membership  in  the  respective  denomi- 
nations: Provided  members  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  Nazar- 
enes, Menonists  and  Dunkards  shall  furnish  substitutes  or 
pay  a  tax  each  of  $500  into  the  public  treasury. ^s 

We  saw  that  in  1860  the  militia  code  of  Virginia, 
the  only  state  of  the  South  in  which  Mennonites  were 
found,  exempted  them  from  the  militia  musters  on  the 
payment  of  a  minimum  fine  of  seventy-five  cents. 
When  Virginia  seceded,  however,  and  war  broke  out 
this  provision  was  annulled.  In  1861  a  draft  was  made 
and  several  Mennonites  were  forced  into  the  service. 


35.  See   Confederate   Congress  Journal.      H.   R.,   V.   336,   379,   460.     Also 

Journal    of    Confederate    Senate,    410.      Both    found   in    Senate    Doc. 
V.   26.      58th   Congress,   Second   Session. 

36.  Va.   Stat,   at   Large,   11. 


MENNONITES  AND  THE  STATE  383 

Many  others  were  imprisoned  in  Richmond  for  re- 
fusing to  serve.^"  It  is  said  that  Algernon  A.  Gray 
who  was  well  acquainted  with  the  Mennonites  at 
Harrisonburg  had  much  to  do  with  the  release  of  the 
prisoners  and  perhaps  with  the  passage  of  the  exemp- 
tion clause  in  the  act  passed  by  the  Confederate  Cong- 
ress in  1862.^*  The  Mennonite  Confession  of  Faith 
was  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  Confederate  officials 
for  the  purpose  of  explaining  the  Mennonite  position 
on  the  question  of  war. 

The  law  passed  by  the  Congress  in  1862  remained 
in  force  for  about  twenty  months.  But  the  war  began 
to  tell  heavily  on  the  ranks  of  the  southern  armies. 
Every  effort  was  put  forth  to  send  men  to  the  front. 
On  December  8,  1863,  President  Davis  suggested  to 
the  Confederate  Congress  that  the  list  of  exemptions 
be  curtailed. ^^  In  accordance  with  this  suggestion  a 
new  law  was  passed  in  the  summer  of  1864,  removing 
all  exemptions  on  religious  grounds. *°  During  the 
rest  of  the  war  the  Mennonites  of  Virginia  suffered 
many  hardships. 

With  this  exception,  which  must  be  explained  on 
the  ground  of  the  desperate  straits  in  which  the  Con- 
federate government  found  itself  toward  the  close  of 
the  war,  the  civil  authorities  in  America  have  always 
been  very  considerate  of  the  tender  consciences  of 
the  Mennonites.  It  is  true  of  course  that  frequently 
their  motives  were  misunderstood  and  that  in  a  few 


ZT.     See  article  by  L.  J.   Heatwole  in  Hartzler  and  Kauffman's  History  of 
Mennonites,  210. 

38.  See  Harrisonburg   (Va.)   Register  for  Aug.   13,   1885. 

39.  Senate    Doc,    Vol.    30.      38    Cong.    Second    Session.     594    Journal    of 

Confed.    Congress. 

40.  Va.    Statutes  at   Large,    162. 


384  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

cases  they  were  rather  severely  dealt  with  in  times  of 
war  by  those  lawless  elements  for  which  in  such  times 
no  authority  can  be  held  responsible. 

But  before  the  law,  when  once  their  principles 
were  comprehended,  they  have  always  had  a  hearing, 
iThey  have  many  reasons  to  be  thankful  for  free 
America.  Few  nations  have  granted  them  such  free 
exercise  of  their  religious  faith.  They  have  asked  for 
much  and  have  received  much.  Exemption  from  mili- 
tary service  is  the  last  privilege  any  nation  is  likely  to 
grant  but  in  America  that  right  is  now  recognized.  In 
Pennsylvania  the  Mennonites  were  fortunate  in  cast- 
ing their  lot  with  the  Quakers  and  were  granted  equal 
privileges  w'ith  them:.  In  Maryland  their  religious 
tenets  were  recognized  in  the  fundamental  law  of  the 
state.  In  Virginia  during  the  rule  of  the  established 
church  they  were  favored  above  all  other  dissenting 
bodies.*^  Today  nearly  every  state  in  the  union  ex- 
empts them  from  bearing  arms  and  from  taking  the 
oath. 

But  if  the  civil  powers  have  been  considerate  of 
Mennonite  scruples,  the  Mennonites  on  the  other  hand 
have  not  been  undeserving  of  those  favors.  Although 
no  people  have  less  to  do  with  the  state  than  they, 
none  are  less  of  a  burden  to  it.  Practically  none  ever 
resort  to  a  lawsuit,  except  in  defense  and  for  that  pur- 
pose very  seldom;  few  are  ever  brought  before  a 
criminal  or  civil  court.  Taken  all  in  all,  there  are  few 
people  more  industrious,  frugal,  thrifty,  honest,  peace- 
ful and  law-abiding  than  the  Mennonites.  Even 
though  their  direct  influence  upon  the  course  of  Amer- 


41.     See  Foote,  Sketches  of  Virginia,  for  objections  of  the  Presbyterians  to 
concessions  made  to  the  Mennonites  in  the  education  bill  of  1784.. 


MENNONITES  AND  THE  STATE  385 

ican  history  may  have  been  slight,  yet  they  have  been 
the  very  first  of  modern  religious  denominations  to 
stand  for  an  ideal  that  may  be  called  distinctly  Ameri- 
can— complete  separation  of  church  and  state,  and 
universal  peace.  In  conclusion  we  can  not  help  quot- 
ing what  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush,  signer  of  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence,  said  of  the  Lancaster  County 
Mennonites  over  one  hundred  years  ago,  in  his  Man- 
ners of  the  German  Inhabitants  of  Pennsylvania,  "Per- 
haps those  German  sects  of  Christians  who  refuse  to 
bear  arms  for  the  shedding  of  human  blood  may  be 
preserved  by  Divine  Providence  as  the  center  of  a 
circle  which  shall  gradually  embrace  all  nations  of  the 
Earth  in  a  perpetual  treaty  of  friendship  and  peace." 


CHAPTER  XV 


PRINCIPLES,  CUSTOMS  AND  CULTURE 


The  Mennonites  of  today  are  the  direct  lineal  as 
well  as  the  spiritual  descendants  of  the  European  Ana- 
baptists of  the  sixteenth  century.  Most  of  them  trace 
their  ancestry  through  the  centuries  to  the  days  of  the 
early  reformers.  Mennonite  names  today  are  almost 
identical  with  the  names  of  the  Anabaptists  of  1600. 

In  faith,  in  doctrine,  in  religious 
Origin  of  practice  and  in  their  social  spirit,. 

Mennonite  Doctrine  they  differ  little  from  their  an- 
and   Practice  cestors.    The  Anabaptist  doctrines 

of  non-resistance,  non-swearing 
of  oaths,  non-participation  in  civil  government,  an4 
rejection  of  infant  baptism  and  seclusion  from  the 
world  are  just  as  rigidly  maintained  by  the  main  body 
of  the  Mennonites  in  America  as  ever  they  were  by 
Grebel,  Mantz,  and  Blaurock  in  the  early  sixteenth 
century. 

The  significance  and  meaning  of  these  religious 
tenets,  as  well  as  their  influence  upon  the  Quakers, 
Baptists,  and  Dunkards  has  been  told  elsewhere  and 
needs  no  repetition  here  but  it  may  not  be  out  of 


PRINCIPLES,  CUSTOMS  AND  CULTURE       387 

order  to  remind  the  reader  that  in  America,  too, 
the  Mennonites  have  been  among  the  earliest,  if  not  the 
very  first  of  those  who  stood  for  two  ideals  which  have 
been  characteristic  of  American  religious  and  political 
life,  namely — complete  separation  of  state  and  church, 
and  universal  peace. 

In  religious  practices  also  as  well  as  in  doctrine, 
the  Mennonites  have  perpetuated  the  teachings  of  the 
Anabaptists.  Among  the  customs  which 
Peet-washing  the  latter  introduced  into  their  religious 
worship  was  that  of  feet-washing,  in 
connection  with  the  communion  service.  This 
practice  was  common  among  some  of  the  Ana- 
baptists of  Europe  and  was  in  vogue  in  some  form  also 
among  other  religious  organizations.  The  pope  still 
practices  the  observance  on  certain  occasions  of  relig- 
ious ceremony,  as  do  also  some  of  the  church  officials 
of  the  Greek  Catholic  church.  The  practice  was  also 
common  at  one  time  among  some  branches  of  the 
Baptist  denomination  as  well  as  among  other  offspring 
of  the  Anabaptists.  The  "Primitive"  Baptists  still  ob- 
serve the  custom. 

Among  the  Mennonites  of  Europe  there  was  no 
uniformity  of  practice.  The  custom  was  not  observed 
everywhere  in  Holland,  nor,  as  we  have  seen,  in 
Switzerland.  With  the  exception  of  the  Mennonites  of 
Germantown  and  Franconia,  it  was  introduced  by  the 
early  immigrants  into  America  due  perhaps  partly  to 
Amish  influence.  It  is  now  still  rigidly  maintained 
among  all  Mennonites  in  America  with  the  exception 
of  the  General  Conference  branch  of  the  church. 

Another  religious  custom  which  is  now  confined 
almost  exclusivelv  to  the  Dunkards  and  the  Mennon- 


388  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

ites  is  the  wearing  of  the  prayer  head  covering  among 
the  women  of  the  church.^     The  prac- 
Prayer  tice    of    wearing    a    covering    of    some 

Head-covering  sort  on  the  head  during  religious 
worship  was  common  among  the  Ana- 
baptists, and  if  one  may  judge  from  the  portraits  of 
the  women  of  past  generations  it  was  not  unusual 
among  later  Protestant  denominations.  This  covering 
which  at  first  was  perhaps  some  sort  of  veil  finally 
developed  into  a  small  cap  made  of  light  material  and 
just  large  enough  to  cover  the  head.  The  custom  is 
common  among  most  of  the  branches  of  the  American 
Mennonite  church,  but  has  been  discarded  by  the 
General  Conference  Mennonites  and  other  of  the  more 
liberal  elements  of  the  denomination. 

In  their  social  spirit  the  Mennonites  have  ever 
been  exclusive.  This  spirit  also  has  been  a  bequest 
from  their  Anabaptist  ancestors.  It  was 
Social  Spirit  a  development  which  resulted  partly  from 
the  conception  that  the  world  was  cor- 
rupt and  the  Christian  must  remove  himself  from  it  as 
much  as  possible,  and  partly  from  the  persecutions 
which  they  suffered  during  their  early  history.  For 
centuries  in  Europe  they  were  hounded  from  one  hid- 
ing place  to  another,  and  it  was  but  natural  that  they 
should  develop  the  feeling  that  their  rights  in  this 
world  were  few.  These  circumstances  together  with 
the  fact  that  they  came  largely  from  the  ranks  of  the 
common  people  engendered  within  them  a  humble 
and  seclusive  spirit.  When  they  immigrated  to 
America  they  always  settled  in  comparatively  new 
regions  where  it  was  possible  for  them  to  form  small 


1.     Based   on    I    Corinthians    11  :2-16. 


PRINCIPLES,  CUSTOMS  AND  CULTURE        389 

colonies  and  thus  perpetuate  their  own  religious  and 
social  environment.  Disintegrating  influences  from 
without  were  guarded  against  by  a  rule  of  the  church 
which  forbade  intermarriage  with  members  of  other 
denominations.  And  thus  as  a  result  of  these  various 
forces  which  have  been  operating  for  more  than  three 
centuries,  the  main  body  of  the  American  Mennonites 
has  been  able  to  maintain  and  perpetuate  not  only  the 
religious  principles,  but  the  customs,  the  language,  the 
spirit  and  in  a  few  cases  almost  the  style  of  dress  of 
their  European  ancestors  of  the  sixteenth  century. 
Nowhere  else  in  America  can  one  get  so  near  to  the 
spirit  and  the  customs  of  the  common  people  of 
Switzerland  and  Germany  of  three  hundred  years  ago 
as  among  the  Amish  and  some  of  the  Mennonites  of 
Pennsylvania. 

This  exclusive  spirit  engendered  conservatism. 
The  Mennonites  have  always  been  slow  to  change 
their  habits  and  opinions.  This  tend- 
Conservatism  ency  is  manifested  especially  in  their 
attitude  toward  the  adoption  of  new 
forms  of  dress.  They  have  always  been  among  the 
last  to  discard  old  styles  for  the  new.  This  has  been 
due  in  part  to  a  commendable  desire  to  escape  the 
changing  whims. and  vanities  of  fashion,  and  in  part 
to  their  conservative  instincts  which  suspected  every- 
thing "new"  as  worldly.  Both  men  and  women  have 
always  been  exceedingly  plain  and  modest  in  their 
style  of  dress.  The  significance  attached  to  plain  dress 
is  well  typified  by  the  phrase  "turned  plain"  which  in 
Lancaster  county  always  means  to  join  church.  In 
recent  years  a  considerable  change  has  taken  place  in 
many  localities  on  the  subject  of  dress  restrictions. 


390  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

Today  with  the  exception  of  the  most  conservative 
branches  of  the  church  most  of  the  restrictions  regard- 
ing the  style  and  cut  of  dress  have  been  discarded  so 
far  as  the  men  are  concerned,  but  the  women  are  still 
required  to  wear  the  cape  in  Lancaster  county;  and 
with  the  exception  of  several  of  the  more  liberal 
branches  of  the  church  they  are  still  required  to  wear 
the  bonnet  instead  of  a  hat. 

The  bonnet,  once  in  common  use  among  the 
Quakers,  is  a  relic  of  a  form  of  head  dress  which  was 

once  common  among  the  wives  and  daugh- 
Bonnet  ters  of  many  of  the  pioneers  of  the  country. 

The  first  German  immigrants  were  usually 
of  the  poorer  people,  and  the  women  wore  a  sort  of 
shawl  or  kerchief  on  their  heads.  This  was  soon  re- 
placed by  the  home  made  bonnet.  The  next  stage  in 
the  evolution  of  woman's  head  dress  was  the  hat  which 
admitted  of  more  ornament,  but  the  majority  of  Men- 
nonites  never  adopted  that  form  of  head  gear. 

In  church  government  the  Mennonites  have  al- 
ways followed  the  congregational  type.  Robert  Brown, 
the  Englishman,  is  often  called  the  father 
Church  of    Congregationalism,    but    long    before 

Government  Brown  was  born  small  bands  of  Ana- 
baptists were  found  in  the  cities  along 
the  Rhine,  in  Germany  and  Holland  and  in  South- 
eastern England.  These  communities  were  self-gov- 
erning so  far  as  religious  matters  were  concerned,  and 
claimed  absolute  independence  both  from  the  state  and 
outside  ecclesiastical  organizations. 

Conferences  of  these  independent  bodies,  to  be 
sure,  were  frequently  held,  not  for  the  purpose,  how- 
ever, of  passing  regulations  which  were  to  be  binding 


PRINCIPLES,  CUSTOMS  AND  CULTURE        391 

on  individual  congregations,  but  rather  to  unite  upon 
some  common  statement  of  the  principles 
Early  and    doctrines    of    their    faith     and    to 

Conferences  confer  on  other  questions  of  common 
interest.  One  of  the  earliest  of  these 
meetings  was  held  at  Schleitheim,  Germany,  in  1527, 
when  one  of  the  earliest  Anabaptist  confessions  of 
faith  of  which  we  have  any  record  was  drawn  up. 
Among  other  meetings  of  a  similar  nature  and  for  a 
similar  purpose  was  the  one  called  in  1632  at  Dord- 
recht, Holland,  at  which  was  drawn  up  the  confession 
which  has  since  been  adopted  by  most  of  the  Mennon- 
ites  of  both  America  and  Europe. 

In  America  a  conference  was  held  of  all  the  min- 
isters in  Pennsylvania  in  1725  for  the  purpose  of  decid- 
ing on  an  English  translation  of  their  confession. 
Similar  meetings  no  doubt  were  held  more  or  less 
regularly  for  various  purposes  throughout  the  eight- 
eenth century,  although  we  have  no  record  of  any  prior 
to  the  Revolutionary  war.  Finally  several  districts  held 
regular  conferences,  the  oldest  of  which  were  the 
Franconia  and  Lancaster  districts.  By  1844  Christian 
Herr  wrote : — 

The  Mennonite  congregations  in  Pennsylvania  are  divided 
into  three  general  circuits,  within  each  of  which  semi-annual 
conferences,  consisting  of  bishops,  elders  or  ministers,  and 
deacons,  are  held  for  the  purpose  of  consulting  each  other, 
and  devising  means  to  advance  the  spiritual  prosperity  of  the 
members. 

As  new  settlements  developed,  new  conferences 
were  organized.  Thus  the  Canadian  churches  have 
met  in  conference  since  about  1820.  Virginia  did  not 
establish  one  until  1835.  During  the  last  fifty  years 
others  have  been  established  among-  all  the  western 


392  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

congregations,  generally  by  states.  The  Amish  churches 
did  not  favor  such  meetings,  and  it  was  not  until  1862 
that  they  held  their  first  "Diener  Versammlung"  of  all 
the  American  churches.  These  ministers'  conferences 
were  kept  up  annually  until  1878  when  they  were 
abandoned.  Since  then  the  Amish  Mennonite  con- 
gregations have  all  organized  themselves  into  confer- 
ence districts,  but  the  Old  Order  are  still  opposed  to 
any  departure  from  the  old  ways. 

The  purpose  of  these  meetings  in  the  early  history 
of  the  church,  both  in  Europe  and  America,  as  we 

saw,  was  merely  advisory,  with  no  thought 
Their  of  passing  regulations  binding  on  the  vari- 

Purpose        ous     congregations.       Each     congregation 

had  its  own  deacons,  preachers  and  many 
of  them  their  own  elders  commonly  called  bishops. 
In  America,  however,  as  the  communities  grew  in 
number  the  jurisdiction  of  the  bishops  extended  over 
a  larger  number  of  congregations.  With  the  exception 
of  the  General  Conference  Mennonites  and  the  Illinois 
(Stuckey)  Conference,  the  Mennonites  are  drifting 
away  from  the  earlier  form  of  church  government.  The 
conferences  are  more  and  more  assuming  the  authority 
to  make  regulations  which  shall  be  binding  on  all  the 
congregations  within  the  district.  In  some  of  the 
larger  communities  the  government  has  been  almost 
completely  transformed  from  the  congregational  type 
to  a  rule  by  bishops.  Lancaster  county  with  a  mem- 
bership of  over  8,000  is  almost  completely  under  the 
control  of  a  few  bishops.  Much  might  be  said  both  for 
and  against  this  tendency.  On  the  one  hand  the  con- 
gregational system  of  self-government  may  prevent 
the  church  from  acting  unitedly  and  thus  most  effect- 


PRINCIPLEvS,  CUSTOMS  AND  CULTURE        393 

ively  in  any  particular  cause.  But  on  the  other  hand 
the  Episcopal  form  affords  an  opportunity  for  a  few 
men  of  strong  personality  to  dominate  the  conference 
and  dictate  the  policy  of  the  church.  Uniformity  and 
formality  may  thus  be  gained  at  the  expense  of  indi- 
viduality and  spirituality. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  studies  in  the  life  of 
the  Pennsylvania  Mennonites  as  well  as  of  all  Pennsyl- 
vania  Germans   is   the   development   of 
Pennsylvania      their     spoken      dialect,      the      so-called 
Dutch  "Pennsylvania     Dutch"     which    is     not 

Dutch  at  all,  but  German.  This  dialect 
is  by  no  means  confined  to  the  Mennonites,  but  is 
common  among  all  of  the  descendants  of  the  original 
German  settlers,  including  the  Lutherans,  Reformed, 
Dunkards,  Schwenkfelders  and  Moravians.  No  his- 
tory of  the  Mennonite  people,  however,  can  be  com- 
plete without  some  reference  to  their  language. 

This  dialect  which  is  a  strange  mixture  of  English 
and  German  words,  with  many  forms  peculiar  to  itself, 
is  the  product  of  the  close  contact  of  the  two  tongues 
during  the  last  two  hundred  years.  The  German  immi- 
grants maintained  their  own  language  when  they  first 
entered  the  colony.  But  they  were  surrounded  by 
English  Quakers  and  the  official  language  of  the  state 
was  English.  From  the  very  beginning  the  modifica- 
tion of  the  German  speech  began  by  the  introduction  of 
English  words  which  were  often  attached  to  German 
forms.  Pastorius  himself,  the  founder  of  German- 
town,  was  one  of  the  first  to  yield  to  this  tendency. 
Pennsylvania  Dutch  may  be  said  to  begin  with  an 
expression  which  he  made  very  early  in  the  history 


394  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

of  Germantown.  Speaking  of  certain  lawyers'  fees,  he 
says,  "Ich  fand,  dasz  alle  lawyers  gefeed  waren". 

The  first  step  in  the  development  of  the  dialect 
was  the  introduction  of  many  .English  nouns  to  replace 
the  German  names  for  the  same  object.  The  following 
extract  taken  from  Armbruster's  Almanac  for  1760 
illustrates  this  method  of  growth  and  also  the  stage 
which  Pennsylvania  Dutch  had  reached  at  that  time. 

Ein  Gesprach  zwischen  zwei  deutschen  Leuten  in  Ame- 
rika,  welches  hier  aufgeschrieben  und  an  die  Deutsche  Ge- 
sellschaft  auf  der  Universitat  zu  Leipzig  geschickt  worden, 
um  zu  horen  ob  die  Gelehrten  in  Deutschland  solche  Sprache 
verstehen  konnen. 

"Oh    Andi    du    Hannes,    Servant    Kobes,    hast    du   schon 
gebrikfestet?" 

"O  nein,  Ich  habe  so  viel  Trubble,  dasz  ich  jetz  mit  Brikfest 
nicht  meddlen  kan." 
"Was  is  den  die  Matter?" 

''Well  der  Matter  is  Ich  schickte  meinen  Serven  auf  ein  paar 
Errants  eine  meile  von  Taun  und  gab  ihm  meinen  Stallion 
mit,  aber  der  Roock  geht  mit  ein  paar  gut  for  nothing  fellows 
in  ein  Tavern  und  trinkt  eine  Mocke  Krock.  In  des  worked 
der  Stallion  den  Breidel  ab  und  lauft  in  Trint  Yockels 
meddos.  Yockel  sagt  er  ist  iiber  die  Bort  Fennse  von  der 
Orchard  gesprungen,  und  so  durch  die  Yard  in  eine  Lane  bey 
Yockels  Barn  vorbey  und  langst  den  Waal  von  seinen  Flower 
Garten  iiber  den  Kleinen  Run  auf  die  pastert  gekommen  und 
hier  ist  er  noch  mals  iiber  die  Fensse  gesprungen.  Aber  mein 
Serven  bube  sagt  es  sind  nur  Storys.  Die  gate  ist  aufgestan- 
den,  und  Yockels  journeymen  und  seine  zwei  Prinzisse  nebst 
noch  einem  Carpenter  standen  bey  dem  Ditch  zwischen  der 
Roth  und  der  Fenz  und  sie  hatten  den  Stallion  wohl  ketchen 
konnen." 

Man  hat  in  Deutschland  von  diesem  bunten  Gesprach 
geurteilet,  dasz  es  nicht  Deutsch  sei  und  hat  sich  gewundert 
wies  moglich  ist,  dasz  man  so  viel  Hauptworter  in  English 
redet,  dasz  man  nicht  lieber  die  wenige  deutsche  Worter,  wo- 


PRINCIPLES.  CUSTOMS  AND  CULTURE        395 

mit  die  vorigen  verbunden  sind  auch  Englisch  macht.  Als- 
dann  konntens  doch  die  Englischen  verstehen.  So  aber  ver- 
stehts  niemand  als  die  Deutschen  in  America. 

In  course  of  time,  however,  more  marked  changes 
took  place,  and  the  Pennsylvania  Dutch  of  today  is 
no  longer  a  mixture  of  German  verbs  and  English 
nouns,  but  a  distinct  compound  made  up  of  both,  but 
unlike  either.  The  following  poem  by  H.  Harbaugh,, 
from  a  book  of  poems  called  "Harbaughs  Harfe" 
serves  as  a  fair  example  of  the  dialect  as  it  is  still  heard 
in  Bucks  and  Montgomery  counties. 


DIE  NEIE  SORT  DSCHENT'  LEIT 

O  heert,  ihr  liebe  Leit,  was  sin  des  Zeite; 

Dass  unser  ens  noch   dess   eriewe  muss. 
'N  jeder  Bauerbuh  muss  Karridsch  reide, 
Un  Baure-Mad,  die  schleppe  rum  in  Seide, 

Un  Niemand  nemmt  an  all  dem  Schtoltz  Verdruss. 

'N  eegne  Boghie  hot  'n  jeder  Bauerbuh, 

'N  schrier  Gauel  un  G'scherr  mit  Silwerb'schlege  druf,. 
Un  plenti  Zehrgeld  ah  im  Sack, — do  is  kee'  Ruh, 
Am  Samschdag  gehn  die  Dschent'  Leit  'm  Schte'del  zu 

Un  schtelle  dort  am  deirschte  Wertshaus  uf. 

Wie  is  des  junge   Bauervolk  doch  ufgedresst, 

Wie  heewe  se  die  Kepp  so  schteif  un  hoch. 

Wie  dhun  se  in  de   schtolze  Fasch'ns  renne, 

M'r  kann  se  nimme  vun  de  Schtadtleit  kenne, 

Sie  mache  all  ihr  Hochmuts  Wege  noch. 

D'er  Vatter  denkt:  Was  hab  ich  schmarte  Sehne, 
Die  Mutter  sagt:    Mei  Mad  die  kumme  raus. 

So  schteil  kosst   Geld.     Ja  well,  m'r  kann  jo  lehne. 

Sell  geht'n  Weil,  bass  uf,  du  werscht's  ball  sehne,  ' 
Der  Vater  "geht  d'r  Bungert  Fens  ball  'naus". 


396 


MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 


Vor  Alters  war  es  en  Sinn  un  Schand, 
Meh'   Schulde  mache  as  m'r  zahle  kann; 

'Sis  net  mehr  so:    m'r  gebt  just  Notice  dorch  die  Editors 
M'r  het  geclos't,  un  dhut  cumpounde    mit  de  Creditors, 

Wer  so  betriegt,  der  is  en  Dschent'lmann. 

Wie  lebt  m'r  nau?    Ich  sehn  dhu  weescht  noch  nix. 

M'r  lebt  juscht  d'rvor:    des  fixt  die  Lah. 
M'r  eegent  nix — die  Fraa  hots  all  in  Hand — 
M'r  is  ihr  Edschent,  manedscht  Geld  un  Land 

Un  geht  nau  in  die  Koscht  bei  seiner  Fraa. 

This  dialect  in  its  different  stages  of  development 
has  been  in  common  use  in  conversation  among  the 
Mennonites  in  Pennsylvania  from  the  time  of  their 
first  settlement  in  the  colony  almost  up  to  the  present. 
Their  reading  matter,  however,  was  written  in  High 
German  and  thus  the  language  of  the  pulpit  was  likely 


How   They  Went  to   Church 

to  be  more  dignified  than  that  used  in  ordinary  con- 
versation. It  was  far  into  the  nineteenth  century,  how- 
ever, before  the  English  replaced  the  German  even  in 
religious  services.  At  present  the  church  worship  is 
conducted  in  the  English  tongue  everywhere  except 
in  Bucks  county  and  among  the  more  recent  immi- 


PRINCIPLES,  CUSTOMS  AND  CULTURE        397 

grants  in  the  western  states,  where  some  form  of  Ger- 
man is  spoken,  and  among  the  Old  Order  Amish,  who 
still  speak  from  the  pulpit  as  well  as  in  daily  conversa- 
tion in  the  dialect  of  their  fathers. 

Toward  higher  learning  the  American  Mennonites. 
have  never  until  recently  been  well  disposed.     This 

was  due  in  part  to  their  inherited  prejudices. 
Attitude  in  part  to  their  form  of  occupation  and  in 
Toward  part  to  their  experience.  The  leaders  of  the 
Learning      Anabaptists,    Grebel,    Hubmeir    and    Denk, 

and  the  early  Mennonites,  Menno  Simons 
and  Dirck  Philip,  were  all  men  of  learning. 
But  the  rank  and  file  of  their  followers  were  of 
the  common  people,  with  little  learning  outside  of  a 
more  or  less  thorough  knowledge  of  the  Bible.  And 
even  these  leaders,  although  educated  men  themselves, 
taught  that  University  training  was  not  necessary  for 
preaching  the  Gospel.  As  a  consequence,  after  these 
early  leaders  had  died,  learning  disappeared  from 
among  the  Mennonites.  It  was  not  until  the  beginning 
of  the  eighteenth  century  that  it  was  again  revived 
in  Europe  and  educated  leaders  once  more  began  to 
direct  the  work  of  the  church. 

The  early  immigrants  to  Pennsylvania,  being 
pioneer  farmers,  had  neither  opportunity  nor  inclina- 
tion to  devote  any  time  to  higher  learning.  The  early 
pioneers  of  Germantown,  many  of  whom  were  Hol- 
landers, seemed  an  exception  to  the  general  rule,  for 
here  the  Mennonites  and  Quakers  together  established 
in  1701  the  Germantown  Academy,  with  Pastorius 
as  the  first  teacher.  Here  a  number  of  the  Mennonite 
youths  of  the  community  received  their  first  school 
training. 


398  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

But  while  opposed  to  higher  learning,  the  Men- 
nonites  favored  such  elementary  instruction  as  seemed 
practical  to  them.  Consequently  they  established 
private  subscription  schools  where  reading,  writing 
and  some  work  in  numbers  were  taught.  In  many 
cases  the  meeting  house  also  served  as  a  school  house. 
By  1718  Christopher  Dock=  had  begun  a  school  in  the 
Skippack  settlement  which  was  soon  held  alternately 
in  the  meeting  houses  of  the  Salford  and  Skippack 
congregations.  Wickersham  in  his  History  of  Edu- 
cation in  Pennsylvania  says  that  before  1740  the  Men- 
nonites  had  established  schools  in  Upper  Hanover, 
in  Montgomery  county,  and  in  the  church  houses  near 
Coopersburg,  and  Upper  Milford  in  Lehigh  county. 
The  latter  he  says  was  built  of  "logs  and  divided  into 
two  apartments  by  a  swinging  partition  suspended 
from  the  ceiling.  One  apartment  was  used  for  relig- 
ious, the  other  for  school  purposes".^  The  early  meet- 
ing houses  in  Lancaster  county  were  made  to  serve  a 
like  purpose.  Schools  were  kept  during  the  eighteenth 
century  in  the  houses  at  Willow  Street,  Mellingers, 
Strasburg,  two  in  the  north  west  part  of  Manheim 
township,  three  in  Warwick,  and  one  in  Brecknock 
township. 

When  the  free  public  school  system  was  inaugur- 
ated in  Pennsylvania  in  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  the  Mennonites  together  with  the  other  Ger- 
man sects,  were  at  first  opposed  to  the  movement,  be- 
cause it  would  take  the  education  of  the  youth  out 
of  the  hands  of  the  church  and  would  substitute  the 
English  for  the  German  language.    But  after  they  had 


2.  See  Martin  G.  Brumbaugh.     The  Life  and  Works  of  Christopher  Dock. 

3.  Page  165. 


PRINCIPLES,  CUSTOMS  AND  CULTURE        399 

once  adjusted  themselves   to  the   new   system   none 
supported  it  more  heartily  than  they. 

While  Mennonites  everywhere  encouraged  in- 
struction in  the  elements  of  learning,  none  of  them 
favored  higher  education  until  far  into  the  nineteenth 
century.  This  does  not  mean  that  none  of  their  young 
men  ever  wandered  from  the  trodden  paths,  for  occa- 
sionally one  would  find  his  way  to  some  college  or 
university  where  he  invariably  made  a  good  record  as 
a  student.  Scores  of  men  who  hold  high  positions  in 
other  churches,  in  colleges  and  in  every  walk  of  life 
claim  a  Mennonite  ancestry.  But  thes«  men  at  the  end 
of  their  college  career  had  been  trained  away  from 
many  of  their  earlier  religious  beliefs,  and  finding  little 
inducement  to  return  to  the  church  under  whose  wing 
they  had  been  brought  up,  drifted  into  other  denomina- 
tions. This  only  intensified  the  prejudice  against  such 
training,  and  at  the  same  time  robbed  the  church  of 
the  very  element  which  ought  to  have  helped  it  most 
to  higher  ideals  of  service  and  culture. 

It  finally  began  to  dawn  upon  a  few  of  the  leaders 
of  the  denomination  that  if  this  process  were  to  con- 
tinue   indefinitely,    the     Mennonites     must 
First  ever  play  an  insignificant  role  in  the  relig- 

Colleges  ious  world.  The  first  to  awaken  to  this 
fact  was  the  General  Conference  branch  of 
the  church,  which  in  this  as  in  several  other  lines  of 
progress  took  the  lead  among  the  various  branches  of 
the  denomination.  J.  H.  Oberholtzer  was  one  of  the 
first  to  advocate  a  more  thorough  training  for  the 
ministry.  His  efforts  were  warmly  seconded  by  Daniel 
Hoch  of  Canada,  Daniel  Krehbiel  of  Iowa,  and  Eph- 
raim  Hunsberger  of  Ohio.    At  the  suggestion  of  Ober- 


400  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

holtzer  the  first  preliminary  conference  which  was 
held  in  Iowa  in  1860,  discussed  the  need  of  a  theolog- 
ical seminary. 

The  conference  of  1863  decided  to  establish  a 
school  which  was  to  be  known  as  the  "Christian  Edu- 
cational Institution  of  the  Mennonite  De- 
School  at  nomination",  and  appointed  a  committee 
Wadsworth  to  collect  funds  and  choose  a  suitable 
location.  On  January  2,  1868,  the  school 
was  opened  at  Wadsworth,  Ohio,  with  Christian  Sho- 
walter  of  Iowa  as  the  first  principal,  one  other  in- 
structor, and  twenty-four  students.  Its  purpose  was 
primarily  to  train  young  men  and  women  for  Christian 
work,  although  secular  subjects  were  also  taught. 
Most  of  the  instruction  was  to  be  conducted  in  the 
German  language.  The  school  never  prospered.  The 
attendance  scarcely  ever  went  beyond  that  of  the 
opening  day.  Although  there  were  only  three  teach- 
ers, expenses  could  hardly  be  met.  C.  J.  van  der 
Smissen  who  had  been  called  from  Germany  to  the 
chair  of  theology  did  not  always  agree  with  Principal 
Showalter  as  to  the  management  of  the  school.  The 
latter  finally  resigned  and  the  former  was  given  entire 
control  of  the  institution.  Finally,  the  churches  of 
the  West  and  those  of  Pennsylvania  fell  into  a  quarrel 
over  certain  matters  of  policy.  As  a  result  of  these 
conflicting  interests,  the  institution  had  to  be  closed 
in  1878,  just  ten  years  after  the  first  students  entered 
its  doors  for  instruction. 

There  remained,  however,  still  a  demand  espe- 
cially among  the  western  churches  for  a  church  school. 
In  1882  the  Kansas  conference  which  was  made  up  al- 
most exclusively  of  German  immigrants  from  Russia 


w 
o 
w 

O 

o 

Ui 

CO 

O 

o 


PRINCIPLES,  CUSTOMS  AND  CULTURE        401 

and    Prussia,    established    at    Halstead,    Kansas,    the 
"Mennonite  Seminary,"  with  H.  H.  Ewert 
Bethel  as  the  first  principal.     The  instruction  was 

College  to  be  carried  on  in  both  the  German  and 
English  languages.  This  institution  has 
since  enlarged  its  policy  and  offers  regular  collegiate 
courses.  In  1893  it  was  removed  to  Newton,  Kansas, 
and  became  known  as  Bethel  College.  The  faculty  in 
3907,  under  the  presidency  of  C.  H.  Wedel,  consisted 
of  ten  instructors,  and  a  total  enrollment  of  121  regular 
students.  The  patronage  is  largely  from  the  local 
Kansas  churches. 

The  Old  Mennonites  did  not  awaken  to  the  need 
of  a  church  school  until  within  the  last  ten  years  and 

even  then  there  was  very  little  sentiment 
Goshen  in  favor  of  such  an  institution  in  the  church 
College         at  large.    Goshen  College  owes  its  existence 

to  the  efforts  of  a  few  of  the  more  liberal 
minded  leaders  of  both  branches  of  the  main  body, 
who  recognized  that  it  was  only  through  an  educa- 
tional institution  controlled  by  the  church  that  the 
young  men  of  talent  could  be  saved  from  casting  their 
lot  with  other  denominations.  Among  these  men  were 
John  S.  Coffman,  Jonathan  Kurtz,  D.  J.  Johns,  J.  S. 
Hartzler,  D.  D.  Miller,  Herman  Yoder,  Lewis  Kulp 
and  J.  F.  Funk.  All  of  these  men  were  from  near 
Elkhart,  Indiana,  which  at  the  time  was  the  religious 
and  intellectual  center  of  the  main  branch  of  the  de- 
nomination. 

In  1895  Dr.  H.  A.  Mumaw  established  a  private 
Normal  and  Business  school  in  Elkhart  under  the 
name  of  Elkhart  Institute.  Soon  after,  the  Elkhart 
Institute    Association    composed   of    most   the    above 


402  MENNONITES  OF  AMERICA 

named  men  and  a  few  others  was  formed  for  the  pur- 
pose of  developing  this  institution  into  a  general 
church  school.  The  next  year  a  building  was  erected 
in  which  the  school  was  held  until  1902  when  it  was 
moved  to  Goshen,  Indiana,  at  wjhich  time  also  its  name 
was  changed  to  Goshen  College.  This  college  which 
began  thus  as  a  private  enterprise  has  since  been  placed 
under  the  management  of  the  Mennonite  Board  of 
Education  whose  members  are  appointed  by  the  con- 
ferences of  both  branches  of  the  main  body.  Goshen 
College  has  grown  steadily  from  the  beginning.  It 
has  been  fortunate  in  securing  and  maintaining  a  fac- 
ulty under  the  presidency  of  Noah  E.  Byers,  made 
up  of  young  men  and  women  every  one  of  whom  has 
had  thorough  training  in  the  best  universities  in  the 
land,  and  at  the  same  time  is  conservative  and  sensible 
enough  to  retain  the  respect  and  confidence  of  the 
church  at  large.  During  the  year  which  closed  in  1908 
the  faculty  was  composed  of  twelve  regular  instructors 
and  the  enrollment  was  three  hundred  and  six, 

Goshen  College  has  not  yet  passed  through  the 
experimental  stage.  While  it  has  gained  many  friends 
especially  among  the  more  liberal  minded  and  more 
influential  men  of  the  church,  yet  there  are  a  number 
of  communities  especially  in  Pennsylvania  which  are 
not  in  favor  of  a  church  school.  The  college  neverthe- 
less has  already  exerted  a  marked  influence  upon  the 
religious  activities  and  ideals  of  culture  within  the 
church,  and  if  it  retains  the  confidence  of  its  constitu- 
ency as  no  doubt  it  will,  it  should  do  more  than  any 
other  agency  to  transform  the  ideals  and  the  policy 
of  the  entire  body,  and  together  with  other  Mennonite 
schools  ought  to  do  much   to  bring  about  a  better 


PRINCIPLES,  CUSTOMS  AND  CULTURE        403 

understanding  between,  if  not  an  entire  unification  of 
at  least  all  the  more  progressive  wings  of  the  Mennon- 
ite  denomination.  In  1909  another  Mennonite  school 
wias  established  at  Hesston,  Kansas.  This  school  has 
just  been  organized  with  D.  H.  Bender  as  principal  and 
T.  M.  Erb  as  business  manager. 

The  awakening  of  the  entire  church  to  the  need 
of  educating  its  young  people  is  only  one  of  the  evi- 
dences of  renewed  life.  With  this  in- 
Evangelization  terest  in  education  there  sprang  up  also 
and  Missions  an  interest  in  other  lines  of  advance- 
ment, such  as  Sunday  schools,  mis- 
sions, and  evangelization. 

Here  again  the  General  Conference  branch  was 
the  first  to  catch  hold  of  the  spirit  of  progress.  It  was 
for  the  cause  of  evangelization  and  home  mission  work 
that  Hoch  and  Oberholtzer  urged  a  closer  union 
among  their  congregations  in  the  late  fifties  of  the  last 
century.  Finally  a  missionary  society  was  established 
for  the  purpose  of  supporting  a  foreign  missionary. 
But  it  was  some  years  before  active  work  began. 
S.  S.  Haury  a  student  at  Wadsworth  was  the  first 
volunteer,  but  the  society  was  undecided  where  to 
begin  work.  Haury  first  visited  Holland  in  the  hope 
of  enlisting  his  services  with  the  Mennonite  missionary 
society  at  Amsterdam,  but  he  soon  returned.  After 
a  visit  to  Alaska,  he  finally  established  an  industrial 
and  educational  mission  in  1880  among  the  Arrapahoe 
Indians  in  Indian  Territory.  Among  other  early  mis- 
sionaries to  the  Indians  were  C.  H.  Wedel,  H.  R.  Voth, 
A.  E.  Funk,  and  O.  S.  Shultz. 

The  famine  in  India  in  1897  turned  the  eyes  of  the 
church  to  that  country  as  a  promising  mission  field. 


404.  MENNONITES  OF  AMERICA 

J.  A.  Penner  and  his  wife  now  represent  the  General 
Conference  Mennonites  in  a  station  located  in  Central 
Province. 

Among  the  Old  Mennonites  and  the  Amish  Men- 
nonites the  mission  interest  appeared  a  few  years  later. 
The  general  spiritual  and  intellectual  awakening  of 
these  two  wings  of  the  denomination  was  due  among 
other  causes,  very  largely  to  the  liberalizing  influences 
of  the  Mennonite  Publishing  Company  of  Elkhart, 
Indiana.  Here  was  concentrated  the  best  talent  and 
the  most  progressive  congregation  of  the  entire  church. 
Here  were  published  the  Herald  of  Truth  and  numer- 
ous papers  and  religious  books.  Many  of  the  brightest 
young  men  and  women  of  other  localities  were  em- 
ployed in  various  capacities  by  the  firm,  all  of  whom 
helped  to  make  the  congregation  at  Elkhart  the  most 
progressive  and  cultured  in  the  entire  denomination. 
The  influence  of  the  Publishing  house  and  the  congre- 
gation was  felt  throughout  the  entire  church.  Among 
the  men  who  dominated  the  spirit  of  the  Elkhart 
church  were  J.  F.  Funk,  president  of  the  company, 
A.  B.  Kolb,  editor  of  the  Herald  of  Truth,  and  John  S. 
Coflfman,  the  pioneer  Mennonite  evangelist. 

Of  these  Coffman  who  was  a  man  of  strong  and 
pleasing  personality,  came  into  contact  with  the  great- 
est number  of  young  men  of  promise.  In  the  course 
of  his  evangelistic  visits  throughout  the  country  during 
the  late  eighties  and  early  nineties,  he  brought  new 
life  to  many  congregations  which  had  hitherto  done 
little  aggressive  work,  and  inspired  many  young  men 
to  higher  ideals  of  life.  Among  these  men  who  have 
since  gained  a  strong  influence  over  the  church  were 
M.  S.  Steiner  of  Ohio,  D.  H.   Bender  of  Maryland, 


PRINCIPLES,  CUSTOMS  AND  CULTURE        405 

J.  A.  Ressler  of  Pennsylvania,  A.  D.  Wenger  of  Iowa, 
C.  K.  Hostetler  of  Ohio,  N.  E.  Byers  of  Illinois  and 
Daniel  Kaufifman  of  Missouri.  Cofifman  was  ably 
assisted  in  his  work  of  evangelization  and  the  finding 
of  young  men  of  promise  by  such  ministers  as  D.  J. 
Johns,  D.  D.  Miller,  and  J.  S.  Hartzler  of  Indiana; 
J.  S.  Shoemaker  of  Illinois;  C.  B.  Brenneman  and  John 
Blosser  of  Ohio,  and  others. 

The  first  important  result  of  the  work  of  these 
men  was  the  organizing  of  a  Sunday  school  conference 
which  was  to  represent  the  entire  church.  The  first 
session  was  held  in  1892  at  Middlebury,  Indiana.  For 
the  first  time  now  the  younger  men  of  the  church  were 
given  an  opportunity  to  discuss  and  organize  various 
lines  of  aggressive  Christian  work.  These  conferences 
have  since  been  divided  into  districts.  They  are  largely 
conducted  by  the  younger  people  and  have  done  more 
than  any  other  one  agency  to  promote  the  missionary 
and  educational  interests  of  the  church. 

Among  the  questions  discussed  at  the  meeting  at 
Middlebury  was  the  question  of  establishing  a  mission 
in  Chicago.  The  prime  mover  in  the  enterprise  was 
M.  S.  Steiner,  who  has  ever  since  been  the  leader  in 
the  missionary  caus€.  At  the  next  session  of  the  Sun- 
day school  conference  which  was  held  at  Bluflfton, 
Ohio,  Steiner  wias  appointed  Superintendent  of  a  mis- 
sion which  was  to  be  established  in  the  city.  This 
station,  the  first  one  established  by  the  Old  Mennon- 
ites  and  the  Amish  is  at  present  in  charge  of  A.  H. 
Leaman. 

Since  the  Chicago  Mission  was  organized  a  num- 
ber of  others  have  been  founded  in  other  cities,  includ- 
ing Philadelphia,  Kansas  City,  Toronto,  Canton,  Ohio, 


406  MENNONITES  OF  AMERICA 

Fort  Wayne,  Indiana,  and  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania. 

The  first  foreign  mission  was  located  in  India,  in 
the  wake  of  the  famine  of  1896-7.  The  tale  of  misery 
which  came  from  that  country  touched  the  hearts  of 
the  Mennonites,  and  a  "Home  and  Foreign  Relief 
Commission"  was  organized  at  Elkhart  for  the  purpose 
of  sending  them  relief.  This  organization  collected 
from  all  branches  of  the  denomination  a  large  supply 
of  provisions  and  money  and  sent  a  shipload  of  grain 
to  India  in  charge  of  George  Lambert,  well  known  in 
the  church  as  a  traveler  through  the  Orient.  Lambert, 
after  his  return  aroused  considerable  interest  among 
the  various  congregations  in  behalf  of  the  natives  of 
India. 

A  sentiment  gradually  began  to  spread  among  the 
leaders  in  the  home  mission  cause  that  this  act  of 
-mercy  ought  to  be  followed  with  an  attempt  to  bring 
to  the  benighted  people  of  India  the  message  of  the 
'Gospel.  Among  the  men  most  active  in  urging  the 
'Cause  were  M.  S.  Steiner,  Dr.  W.  B.  Page,  who  as  a 
student  at  Ada,  Ohio,  a  few  years  before  had  volun- 
teered as  a  foreign  missionary,  and  J.  A.  Ressler  of 
Pennsylvania.  At  a  meeting  held  at  Elkhart  in 
November,  1898,  at  which  these  men  and  many  of  the 
leaders  of  the  church  were  present,  it  was  decided  that 
J.  A.  Ressler  and  Dr.  W.  B.  Page  and  his  wife,  be  sent 
to  India  to  open  up  a  mission  station  in  that  country. 
This  little  party  set  sail  the  following  spring  and  fin- 
ally selected  a  site  near  Dhamtari,  Central  Province, 
for  the  proposed  mission.  Ressler  has  ever  since  re- 
tained the  superintendency  of  the  enterprise,  but  Dr. 
Page  was  soon  obliged  because  of  ill  health  to  return 
home.     A  number  of  other  devoted  Christian  young 


PRINCIPLES,  CUSTOMS  AND  CULTURE        407 

men  and  Women  have  since  dedicated  their  Hves  to  the 
work.  Some  of  these  have  also  been  obliged  to  return 
because  of  the  unwholesome  climate.  Others  have 
sacrificed  their  lives  in  the  cause  and  lie  buried  near  the 
scenes  of  their  labors.  But  the  broken  ranks  are  con- 
tinually being  filled  by  those  who  are  willing  to  sacri- 
fice their  all  upon  the  altar  of  Christian  duty  and  love 
for  their  fellow  men.  In  1907  the  entire  force  consisted 
of  eleven  men  and  women. 

All  of  these  mission  stations  both  home  and  for- 
eign are  now  under  the  control  of  the  Mennonite  Board 
of  Missions  and  Charities*  of  which  organization  M.  S. 
Steiner  is  the  president,  and  are  supported  by  all 
branches  of  the  denomination  except  the  General  Con- 
ference, the  Defenseless  Mennonites,  and  the  Menno- 
nite Brethren  in  Christ,  all  of  which  have  mission 
stations  of  their  own.  The  interest  in  missions  has 
been  growing  rapidly,  and  there  is  at  present  con- 
siderable agitation  in  favor  of  another  station  in  South 
America. 

No  sketch  of  the  secular  and  religious  life  of  the 
Mennonites  would  be  complete  without  at  least  some 
reference  to  their  habits  of  thrift  and  in- 
Mennonite  dustry.  Throughout  their  entire  history 
Virtues  they   have    everywhere   been    spoken    of 

as  an  honest,  industrious  and  prosper- 
ous people.  Mosheim,  the  historian,  says  of  the 
Mennonites  of  Holland  in  his  day  that  they  "owned 
the  fines^t  land,  drove  the  finest  equipages,  lived 
in  the  best  houses,  and  were  in  every  way  the 
m.ost  industrious  people  in  Holland".    This  character- 


4.     This    board    also    has    control    of    an    orphan    home    located    at    West 
I<iberty,  Ohio,  and  an  old  people's  home  in  Wayne  county,  Ohio. 


408  MENNONITES  OF  AMERICA 

ization  might  be  applied  with  just  as  much  truth  to 
almost  any  of  the  settlements  in  America.  The  Men- 
nonites  of  Lancaster  county,  and  the  Amish  of  Wood- 
ford county,  Illinois,  have  attained  perhaps,  to  as  high 
an  average  of  material  prosperity  as  any  other  farming 
community  in  the  entire  country. 

With  the  other  virtues  which  enter  into  the  com- 
position of  true  character  the  Mennonites  as  a  whole 
are  endowed  to  an  unusual  degree.  While  as  a  de- 
nomination they  may  fall  behind  others  in  their  attain- 
ments in  the  world  of  culture,  yet  in  the  possession  of 
the  sounder  virtues  they  are  surpassed  by  none.  They 
are  sober,  honest,  industrious,  peaceable  and  religious, 
— withal  among  the  most  useful  citizens  of  the  land. 


CHAPTER  XVI 


LITERATURE  AND  HYMNOLOGY 


The  early  Mennonite  immigrants  brought  with 
them  few  books,  although  such  as  they  had  they  knew 
well.  In  addition  to  their  Bibles,  prayer 
Books  Brought  books  and  confessions  of  faith,  there 
from  Europe  may  have  been  found  scattered  copies 
of  the  works  of  Menno  Simons,  Dirck 
Philip  or  of  the  Bloedig  Toneel  among  the  Hollanders, 
and  of  the  Froschauer^  Bible  and  the  Ausbund  among 
the  Palatines.  This  slight  stock,  furthermore,  was 
soon  exhausted  and  since  neither  Dutch  nor  German 
religious  books  wlere  to  be  had  in  America,  the  Ger- 
mantown  church  as  early  as  1708  wrote  to  the  church 
at  Amsterdam,  asking  for  a  supply  of  Bibles,  prayer 
books  and  catechisms.^ 

The  first  book  published  expressly  for  and  at  the 


The  so-called  Froschauer  Bible  was  issued  by  a  well  known  publisher 
at  Zurich,  Switzerland,  by  the  name  of  Froschauer.  It  was  popular 
among  the  Swiss  Anabaptists  and  was  condemned  by  the  civil  and 
religious  authorities  of  Berne  and  Zurich.  Many  old  editions  are 
still  to  be  found  among  the  Mennonites  and  Amish  of  Pennsylvania 
and   Illinois. 

See  de  Hoop  ScheflFer.  Inventaris  der  Archiefstukken  Berustende  bij 
de  Vereenigde   Doopsgezinde  Gemeende  te  Amsterdam. 


410  MENNONITES  OF  AMERICA 

request  of  the  Pennsylvania  Mennonites  was  an  Eng- 
lish edition  of  their  confession  of  faith 
Confession  of  which  was  printed  at  Amsterdam  1712.' 
Faith  1712  This  was  one  of  the  very  first  books  to 
be  printed  anywhere  for  the  Germans 
of  America,  and  the  only  English  edition  of  any  of  the 
standard  Mennonite  books  for  more  than  a  century. 
The  preface  explains  the  demand  at  this  time  for  an 
English  translation  of  the  confession. 

Since  among  the  Christians  many  controversies,  divi- 
sions, quarrels  and  strife  about  many  and  several  articles  and 
things  concerning  the  Christian  religion  have  been  raised 
inasmuch  that  every  religious  society  hath  given  out  and 
published  their  separate  meaning  and  their  own  confession 
that  so  it  might  be  known  what  they  believe  and 
what  they  do  assert  or  not  and  that  the  Confes- 
sion of  Faith  of  the  harmless  and  defenceless  Christians 
called  Menonists  or  Baptists  is  as  yet  but  little  known  in 
many  places  without  the  United  Provinces  for  the  greatest 
part  of  the  people  doth  not  know  what  they  believe  and  con- 
fess of  the  wtord  of  God  and  by  reason  of  that  ignorance  can't 
speak  and  judge  rightly  of  their  confession  nor  the  confessors 
themselves,  nay  through  prejudice  as  a  strange  and  unheard 
of  thing  do  abhor  them  so  as  not  to  speak  well  but  ofttimes 
ill  of  them.  Therefore  it  hath  been  thought  fit  and  needful 
to  translate  at  the  desire  of  some  of  our  fellow  believers  in 
Pennsylvania  our  Confession  of  Faith  into  English  so  as  for 
many  years  it  hath  been  printed  in  the  Dutch,  German,  and 
French  languages,  which  Confession  hath  been  well  approved 
of  both  in  the  Low  countries  and  in  France  by  several 
eminent  persons  of  the  Reformed  religion.  And  therefore  it 
hath  been  thought  worth  while  to  turn  it  also  into  English, 
that  those  of  that  nation  may  become  acquainted  with  it  and 
so  might  have  a  better  opinion  thereof  and  of  its  possessors 
and  not  only  so  but  every  Well  meaning  soul  might  enquire 
and  try  all  things  and  keep  that  which  is  best. 


3.     A  copy  of  this  book  can  be  found  in  the  library  of  the  Pennsylvania 
State  Historical  Society,  at   Philadelphia. 


LITERATURE  AND  HYMNOLOGY  411 

This  edition  evidently  was  soon  exhausted,  for  in 
1727  it  was  reissued,  but  this  time  it  was  printed  on  the 

press  of  A.  Bradford,  of  Philadelphia, 
Later  Editions     a  well  known  printer  of  that  day.   This 

was  the  first  book  published  in  America 
for  the  Mennonites.  After  this  there  seemed  to  be  no 
more  demand  for  an  English  confession  of  faith  until 
1810,  when  the  Mennonites  of  Virginia  had  an  edition 
printed  at  New  Market,  Virginia.  A  few  years  later, 
in  1814,  another  edition  was  published  at  Doylestown, 
Pennsylvania,  and  in  1837  appeared  the  well  known 
Burkholder  confession,  published  at  Winchester,  Vir- 
ginia. The  first  three  were  all  translations  of  the  Dort 
confession  of  1632,  but  the  last  was  a  copy  of  the  so- 
called  "large"  confession  of  thirty-three  articles  found 
in  Martyrs  Mirror,  to  which  was  added  "Nine  Reflec- 
tions" by  Bishop  Peter  Burkholder  of  Virginia,  all 
written  in  the  German  language  and  translated  into 
English  by  Joseph  Funk.  During  recent  years  many 
English  and  German  editions  of  the  Dort  confession 
have  been  printed  at  Elkhart,  Indiana. 

The  next  Mennonite  book  to  be  published  was 
the  old  song  book,  Ausbund,  printed  by  Christopher 
Sauer  at  Germantown  in  1742.  But  since  the  book  is 
described  more  fully  elsewhere  it  is  given  merely  a 
passing  mention  here. 

The  greatest  literary  undertaking  with  which  the 

Mennonites  of  the  Colonial  period  were  connected  was 

the  translation  from  the  Dutch  into  Ger- 

The  Martyrs      man,    and    the    printing    of    their    well 

Mirror  known  book  of  martyrs,  now  commonly 

called  the  Martyrs  Mirror.  The  Martyrs 

.Mirror,  as  its  name  suggests,  is  the  record  of  the  mar- 


412  MENNONITES  OF  AFERICA 

tyrs  of  the  Mennonite  and  kindred  faiths,  and  is  one 
of  the  sources  of  information  on  Mennonite  history. 
It  was  not  written  by  one  man,  but  is  a  compilation 
made  by  a  number  of  men  during  a  period  of  nearly 
one  hundred  years.  It  had  its  inception  in  a  small 
book,  written  in  the  Dutch  language  and  printed  in 
the  Netherlands  in  1562  under  the  title  of 
"Het  Offer  des  Herren,"  which  contained  a 
short  history  of  the  "Doopsgezinde."  This  book  ap- 
peared in  many  editions  during  the  next  fifty  years 
and  was  frequently  burned  at  the  stake  with  the  Ana- 
baptist martyrs  by  the  Spanish  inquisitors  in  the 
Netherlands. 

In  1617  a  large  edition  was  compiled  by  two  well 
known  Mennonites,  Hans  de  Ries  and  Jacques  Outer- 
man,  and  printed  at  Hoorn  by  Zacharias  Cornelisz, 
under  the  title  of  "Historic  der  Warachtighe  Getuygen 
Jesu  Christi."  In  1631  it  was  again  enlarged  at  Haar- 
lem by  Hans  Passchiers  von  Wesbrich,  under  the  name 
"Martelaars  Spiegel  der  Wereloose  Christenen."  The 
book  was  given  its  final  form  at  Dortrecht  in  1660  by 
a  Mennonite  theologian,  Thielman  Jansz  van  Bracht, 
with  the  title  "Het  Bloedig  Toneel  der  Doopsgezinde 
en  Wereloose  Christenen."  The  same  book  was  repro- 
duced in  1685  with  104  copper  plate  engravings  made 
by  a  well  known  artist  of  that  time,  Jan  Luyken.  This 
is  the  final  form  of  the  work  from  which  all  later  trans- 
lations have  been  made.''  The  title  in  full,  translated 
reads  as  follows, —  "The  Bloody  Theatre  or  Martyrs 
Mirror  of  the  Defenseless  Christians  who  bap- 
tized    only     upon     confession     of     faith     and     who 


4.     For  a  full  account  of  the  history  of  the  Martyrs  Mirror  see  Historical 
and   Biographical   Sketches  by   S.   W.    Pennypacker. 


LITERATURE  AND  HYMNOLOGY  413 

suffered  and  died  for  the  testimony  of  Jesus 
their  Savior  from  the  time  of  Christ  to  the 
year  A.  D.  1660.  Compiled  from  various  authentic 
chronicles,  memorials  and  testimonials  by  Thielman 
J.  van  Bracht." 

As  can  be  seen  by  the  title  the  author  does  not 
confine  himself  to  the  martyrs  of  the  Mennonite  faith, 
but  includes  all  those  who  according  to  his  judgment 
opposed  infant  baptism,  war  and  the  oath.  In  general 
this  would  mean  the  Anabaptists  but  van  Bracht  be- 
gins with  the  martyrdom  of  Jesus,  John  and  Stephen, 
whom  he  includes  among  the  defenseless  martyrs, 
then  traces  the  history  of  persecutions  through  the 
period  of  the  Roman  emperors,  and  then  takes  up  often 
in  harrowing  detail  the  fate  of  various  sects  of  the 
medieval  and  early  modern  age,  including  the  Lyon- 
ists,  Petrobrusians,  Waldenses,  Wycliffites,  Hussites, 
Anabaptists  and  Mennonites.  In  this  way  the  com- 
piler of  the  Martyrs  Mirror  tries  to  trace  the  history, 
not  of  a  distinct  religious  sect,  but  of  several  religious 
practices  and  beliefs  which  a  number  of  the  sects  in 
spite  of  many  differences  held  in  common. 

In  addition  to  the  detailed  accounts  of  the  martyr- 
dom of  numerous  individuals,  the  book  contains  brief 
historical  sketches  of  various  non-resistant  sects,  to- 
gether with  numerous  confessions  of  faith  of  the  Ana- 
baptists in  different  communities.  Some  of  thjs  infor- 
mation van  Bracht  secured  from  original  documents 
to  which  he  had  access.  The  greater  part  of  the  work, 
however,  is  a  compilation  of  what  earlier  historians 
had  to  say  on  the  subjects  which  he  discusses.  In  all, 
he  consulted  three  hundred  and  fifty-six  authorities  in 
the  preparation  of  the  Martyrs  Alirror, 


414  MENNONITES  OF  AMERICA 

Next  to  the  Bible,  this  book  was  the  one  most 
highly  prized  by  the  Mennonites  during  and  after  the 
years  of  persecution.  It  told  of  the  sufferings,  courage 
and  sublime  faith,  not  only  of  those  of  their  own 
religious  belief,  but  often  of  those  of  their 
own  blood.  Many  of  the  names  found  in 
the  Martyrs  Mirror,  such  as  Kuster,  Rhoads,  Got- 
walts,  Landis,  Meylin,  Keyser,  Brubaker,  Zug,  Bach- 
man,  Garber  and  others  still  sound  familiar  to  one 
acquainted  with  the  Mennonites  of  today,  and  explain 
in  part  why  the  book  was  so  highly  esteemed  by  them. 

This  book  written  in  the  Dutch  language,  several 
of  the  early  immigrants  brought  with  them  to  Penn- 
sylvania. Although  there  were  only  a  few  copies  in 
the  settlement,  and  these  written  in  a  language  under- 
stood by  a  comparatively  small  number,  yet  there  did 
not  seem  to  be  much  demand  for  more  until  about 
1745  when  the  war  between  the  English  and  French, 
and  the  danger  of  Indian  incursions  made  the  Men- 
nonites who  lived  along  the  frontier  in  the  border 
counties  fear  for  the  inviolability  of  their  non-re- 
sistant principles.  Feeling  that  their  younger  people 
needed  some  instruction  in  this  direction  they  be- 
thought themselves  of  the  old  Martyr  book.  There 
now  began  to  be  a  general  demand  for  a  translation  in 
the  German  language  which  could  be  read  by  all. 
Accordingly  on  October  19,  1745,  Jacob  Godschalk,  of 
Germantown,  Dielman  Kolb  of  Salford,  Michael  Zieg- 
ler  of  Skippack,  and  Heinrich  Funck  of  Indiantown 
wrote  to  the  church  at  Amsterdam,  asking  for 
a  German  translation.  The  Hollanders,  however, 
unwilling  to  undertake  the  work  did  not  reply 
for    four    years,     and    then    only    to    say    that    they 


LITERATURE  AND  HYMNOLOGY  4lS 

cou)'!  not  grant  the  request  of  their  American 
brethren.  In  the  meantime  the  Pennsylvanians 
had  undertaken  the  translation  and  printing  of 
the  book  themselves.  Under  the  supervision  of 
Heinrich  Funck  and  Dielman  Kolb  they  had  arranged 
with  the  Seventh  Day  Baptists  of  the  Ephrata  cloister, 
w^here  a  printing  press  had  been  established  only  a  few 
years  before,  for  an  edition  of  1300  copies.  This  was 
considered  a  great  undertaking  in  those  days,  since 
the  book  was  exceptionally  large  and  all  the  paper  to 
be  used  had  first  to  be  manufactured  at  the  cloister. 
The  entire  work  of  making  the  paper  and  printing  and 
binding  consumed  the  time  of  fifteen  men  for  three 
years.  The  translation  w^as  made  from  the  Dutch 
edition  of  1685  by  Peter  Miller  the  well  known  linguist 
of  the  cloister.  The  work  was  finally  completed  in 
1749,^  as  a  large  folio  volume  of  over  1200  pages  with 
the  title,  "Der  Blutige  Schauplatz  oder  Martyrer 
Spiegel,"  etc.  S.  W.  Pennypacker,  in  speaking  of  this 
enterprise  says : — 

It  was  the  most  extensive  outcome  of  the  literature  of  the 
American  colonies.  The  paper  was  made  at  Ephrata;  the 
binding  was  done  there;  and  there  was  nothing  anywhere 
else  in  the  colonies  to  compare  with  it  as  an  illustration  of 
literary  and  theological  zeal. 

In  1814  the  second  American  edition  Hvas  published 
by  Joseph  Ehrenfried  of  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania 
which  was  authorized  by  a  number  of  ministers  of  that 
day.     The  edition  was  sold  by  subscription  and  was 


This  edition  is  rare.  Copies  can  be  found  in  the  libraries  of  John  F. 
Funk,  of  Elkhart;  S.  W.  Pennypacker,  Philadelphia;  John  E. 
Roller,  Harrisonburg,  Virginia ;  The  Mennonite  Publishing  House, 
Scottdale,  Pennsylvania ;  and  the  Pennsylvania  State  Historical 
Society,    Philadelphia. 


416  MENNONITES  OF  AMERICA 

largely  a  reprint  of  the  Ephrata  book.  Shem  Zook 
of  Mifflin  county,  Pennsylvania,  published  a  third 
edition  in  Philadelphia  in  1849,  which  was  reissued  by 
John  F.  Funk  and  Brother  of  Elkhart,  Indiana,  in  1870. 
The  first  English  translation  was  made  by  I.  D.  Rupp 
in  1837.  The  Hansard  Knollys  Society  of  London  in 
1857  printed  the  first  English  edition  in  Europe  for 
the  English  Baptists.  The  last  English  edition  in 
America  was  issued  by  the  Mennonite  Publishing 
Company  of  Elkhart,  Indiana,  in  1887.  This  is  the 
last  and  perhaps  the  most  reliable  edition  in  America. 
It  was  translated  by  J.  F.  Sohm  and  John  F.  Funk 
from  the  Dutch  edition  of  1660. 

Equally  as  well  known  as  the  Alartyrs  Mirror 
were  the  works  of  Menno  Simons,  the  early  leader  of 

the  Mennonite  faith.  Menno  Simons 
Works  of  found    time   amid    the   various   duties 

Menno  Simons       of   an   unusually   active   life   to   write 

many  letters  to  his  brethren  and  to 
reply  with  his  pen  to  many  attacks  made  upon  his  reli- 
gious views  by  his  enemies.  These  controversial  and 
polemical  treatises  on  the  doctrines  of  the  Christian 
church  as  understood  by  himself  and  the  Anabaptists 
in  general  constitute  almost  his  entire  literary  efforts 
from  his  renunciation  of  the  Roman  church  to  his 
death. 

Among  the  various  subjects  upon  which  he 
wrote  during  this  period  are  baptism,  the  holy  supper, 
magistracy,  oaths,  capital  punishment,  warfare  and  the 
ban.  On  all  of  these  doctrines  he  practically  held  the 
views  of  the  peaceful,  non-resistant  Anabaptists  of 
that  day.    On  the  incarnation,  however,  he  approached 


LITERATURE  AND  HYMNOLOGY  417 

the  opinions  of  Melchior  Hoffman,  who  denied  the 
true  humanity  of  Christ.  This  view  was  repudiated 
by  most  of  the  Anabaptists  of  his  time  as  well  as  by 
the  Mennonites  of  the  present. 

In  1543  Menno  became  involved  in  a  controversy 
with  John  a  Lasco,  a  famous  theologian  of  that  time, 
on  the  question  of  the  incarnation,  hereditary  sin, 
sanctification  and  the  Christian  ministry.  This  contro- 
versy culminated  in  a  three  days'  public  disputation 
proposed  by  a  Lasco  and  agreed  to  by  Menno.  A 
misleading  report  of  the  event  published  by  a  Lasco 
drew  from  Menno  the  next  year  two  written  treatises. 
In  1553  he  held  a  public  disputation  on  the  same 
general  subjects  with  Martin  Micronius,  another  well 
known  theologian.  This  also  resulted  in  a  written  de- 
fence by  Menno.  During  the  preceding  year  he  had 
also  written  a  defence  against  a  bitter  attack  mad^ 
upon  the  Anabaptists  by  Gellius  Faber.  Among  the 
short  treatises  of  Menno's  are  his  "Renunciation  of 
Rome,"  and  his  "Testimony  against  Jan  van  Leyden." 
The  most  important,  however,  of  all  his  writings  and 
the  most  complete  exposition  of  his  views  is  his  "Foun- 
dation Book,"  first  published  in  1555.  It  was  written 
as  a  consequence  of  the  differences  of  opinion  which 
existed  at  the  time  among  the  Anabaptists  of  the 
Netherlands  with  reference  to  the  application  of  the 
practice  of  shunning  to  the  conjugal  relations.  Menno 
who  believed  that  the  usual  relations  between  husband 
and  wife  should  be  suspended  in  case  either  were  ex- 
communicated, wrote  a  vigorous  defence  of  his  posi- 
tion. The  treatise  does  not  confine  itself,  however,  to 
this  subject  but  contains  the  mature  views  of  Menno 
on  most  the  Anabaptist  doctrines,  and  has  since  be- 


418  MENNONITES  OF  AMERICA 

come  a  sort  of  confession  of  faith  for  his  followers.' 

These  various  treatises  were  frequently  published 
during  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries,  both 
singly  and  collectively  in  both  the  Dutch  and  the  Ger- 
man languages.  When  the  first  American  edition  ap- 
peared I  have  not  been  able  to  determine,  but  as  early 
as  1794,  at  least,  the  "Fundament  Buch"  containing 
675  pages  was  published  at  Lancaster  by  Joseph  Al- 
brecht  and  Company.  In  1833  Heinrich  Kurtz  of 
Osnaburgh,  Ohio,  translated  from  the  Dutch,  and  pub- 
lished "Menno  Simons'  Samtliche  Schriften."  Later  in- 
complete editions  in  German  were  published  by  Johann 
Baer  of  Lancaster  in  1835,  and  one  at  Skippack,  Penn- 
sylvania, in  1851.  The  first  complete  work  was  printed 
at  Elkhart  in  1876.  John  Herr  about  the  middle  of  the 
century  published  an  incomplete  English  edition  as  did 
also  L  D.  Rupp  in  1863.  The  first  and  last  complete 
Edition  came  from  the  press  of  John  F.  Funk  and 
Brother  of  Elkhart  in  1871. 

After  the  Martyrs  Mirror  and  the  Works  of  Menno^ 
Simons,  the  next  best  known  book  among  the  early 

Mennonites  was  perhaps  Dirck  Philip's 
Dirck  Philip's  Enchiridion, or  Handbook.  Dirck  Philip 
Handbiichlein      was  a  younger  contemporary  of  MennO' 

Simons  and  was  also  a  Dutchman.  At 
Embden  the  two  were  closely  associated  in  their  work 
of  preaching  the  Gospel,  and  they  maintained  the  most 
friendly  relations  throughout  the  life  of  Menno.  The 
Enchiridion  or  "Handbiichlein,"  as  it  has  been  called 
in  German,  deals  with  the  same  subjects  as  do  the 
writings  of  Menno  and  largely  from  the  same 
point  of  view.    The  following  table  of  contents  reveals 


6.     See  A.   H.   Newman.     History  of  Antipedobaptism.      P.   302. 


LITERATURE  AND  HYMNOLOGY  419 

the  nature  of  the  subject  matter— "Baptism,  Incarna- 
tion, New  Birth,  Shunning-,  The  Spiritual  Restitution, 
Sending  of  Preachers,  The  Church  of  God,  etc."  The 
book  first  appeared  in  the  Dutch  language  printed  at 
Haarlem  in  1578.  Since  that  date  many  German  edi- 
tions have  appeared.  It  has  never  been  translated  into 
English.  The  first  American  edition  was  published  in 
1811  by  Joseph  Ehrenfried  at  Lancaster  under  the 
title  "Enchiridion  oder  Handbiichlein."  It  was  pub- 
lished the  second  time  in  1857  by  Christian  Moser  at 
New  Berlin,  Ohio,  and  a  third  time  in  1872  at  Elkhart. 
The  book  is  still  popular  among  the  conservative 
Amish  and  especially  among  the  Old  Order  branch, 
largely  because  Philip  advocates  a  rigid  observance  of 
the  practice  of  shunning,  a  custom  still  literally  ob- 
served by  this  branch  of  the  church. 

There  are  two  other  Mennonite  books  with  which 
the  early  Mennonites  of  Pennsylvania  were  more  or  less 
familiar— Jacob  Denner's  Sermons, 
Jacob  Denner  and  the  works  of  Johann  Deknatel. 
Jacob  Denner  (1659-1746)  was  a 
Mennonite  preacher  at  Hamburg,  Germany.  It  was 
while  he  was  pastor  here  that  he  published 
a  series  of  sermons  under  the  title  of  "Christliche 
und  Erbauliche  Betrachtungen  tiber  die  Sonn— und 
Festtags  Evangelia  des  Ganzen  Jahrs,"  in  Altona,  No- 
vember, 1730.  A  special  edition  of  five  hundred 
copies  of  this  book  was  published  in  Germany  in  1792, 
under  the  supervision  and  at  the  expense  of  John  Her- 
stein  and  John  Smutz  of  Schwenksville,  Pennsylvania. 
These  men  brought  the  books  from  Germany  and  sold 
them  to  their  brethren  in  Montgomery,   Bucks,  and 


420  MENNONITES  OF  AMERICA 

Lancaster  counties/  An  American  edition  was  pub- 
lished in  Philadelphia  in  1860  under  the  direction  of  S'. 
B.  Musselman. 

Johannes  Deknatel  was  also  a  preacher  at  Amster- 
dam.   His  book,  which  in  German  bears  the  title  "Acht 

Predigten  iiber  Wichtige  Materien," 
Johann  Deknatel    was  first  printed  in  Dutch  but  later,  in 

1757,  in  German.  It  has  never  been 
printed  in  America  except  in  fragments. 

In  addition  to  the  books  thus  far  described  which 
were  all   written  by  Mennonite   authors,  and  in   the 

interests  of  their  faith  there  were  other 
Non-Mennonite  works  which  were  not  always  written 
Works  by     Mennonites     nor     especially     for 

them,  but  yet  popular  among  them 
during  the  early  days.  Among  these  may  be  men- 
tioned "Giildene  Apfel  in  silbernen  Schalen,"  first 
printed  at  Ephrata  in  1745,  at  the  request  of  several 
members  of  the  Mennonite  church ;  "Geistliches  Blu- 
men-Gartlein  Inniger  Seelen,"  published  for  the  eighth 
time  in  America  in  1800;  "Die  Wandelnde  Seele," 
written  by  a  Dutch  Mennonite  preacher  in  Holland  in 
the  seventeenth  century  and  published  many  times 
since  in  both  English  and  German  and  still  in  print; 
and  Gottfried  Arnold's  "Kirchen  und  Ketzer  Historic," 
imported  from  Europe  in  1785  but  never  printed  in 
America. 

As  already  seen,  the  Mennonites  of  America  added 
very  little  of  their  own  to  their  original  store  of  liter- 


7.     N.    B.    Grubb,    in    Mennonite    Year    Book   and    Almanac,    1906. 


LITERATURE  AND  HYxMNOLOGY  421 

ature  during-  the  first  century  of  their  settlement  here. 
Few  of  them  seemed  to  have  liter- 
Books   by  ary  talent  and  none  the  time  to  ex- 
Amencan  Authors       ercise  such  as  they  had.    The  build- 
ing  of   homes    in    the    wilderness 
and  the  establishing  of  churches  left  little  time   for 
anythmg  else.    And  so  although  eager  to  supply  them- 
selves   with   such   religious   books   as 
Hemnch   Funck    they  could  get  from  Europe,  they  pro- 
duced nothing  of  their  own  until  1744 
when  Heinrich  Funck  published  on  the  press  of  Christ- 
opher Sauer,  his  "Ein   Spiegel  der  Taufe  mit  Geist 
mit  Wasser  und  mit  Blut." 

This  book,  as  is  suggested  in  the  title,  is  a  disser- 
tation on  the  subject  of  baptism.  Sauer,  who  was  a 
Uunkard  and  consequently  held  views  different  from 
i^unck's  on  the  subject,  withheld  his  name  from  the 

f^.J^'for-     ^^"^  ^''^'^°"'  °^  ^^'^  book  appeared   in 
1834,  1850  and  in  1861.     Bishop  Funck  also  wrote  an- 
other and  larger  work  which  was  published  in  1763  by 
Aaron   Armbruster   of   Philadelphia   under   the    title 
Erne  Restitution  oder  Erklarung  einiger  Hauptpunkte 
des  Gesetzes."    This  book  was  widely  read  among  the 
Mennonites  at  that  time,  and  was  reprinted  at  Biel 
Switzerland,  in  1844,  and  again  at  Lancaster  in  1862' 
It  contains  over  300  pages  and  gives  "an  explanation  of 
some  of  the  principal  parts  of  the  law,  their  fulfillment 
through  Christ  and  their  signification  under  the  Gospel 
dispensation."® 

Another  book  or  pamphlet  written  about  the  same 
time  as  "Ein  Spiegel  der  Taufe,"  although  not  distinct- 


8.     John  F.   Funk.     The  Mennonite  Church  and  her  Accu 


sers,  p.  63. 


422  MENNONITES  OF  AMERICA 

ively  a  Mennonite  work  in  the  sense  that  it  deals  with 
the  doctrines  or  practices  of  the 
Christopher  Dock's       church,  yet  deserves  mention  here 
Schulordnung  because  it  was  written  by  a  Men- 

nonite and  describes  the  methods 
of  a  pioneer  Mennonite  school  teacher.  The  pamphlet 
in  question,  the  first  work  on  pedagogy  published  in 
America,  is  Christopher  Dock's  "Schulordnung",  writ- 
ten about  1750  and  printed  in  1770  by  Christopher 
Sauer,  Jr.,  of  Germantown.^ 

Christopher  Dock  was- one  of  the  early  immigrants 
to  Pennsylvania,  having  arrived  with  his  father  in  1714. 
Not  much  is  known  of  his  early  life,  but  by  1718  we  find 
him  teaching  a  subscription  school  among  the  Mennon- 
ites  on  the  Skippack  where  he  remained  for  ten  years. 
At  the  expiration  of  that  time  he  became  a  farmer  for 
the  following  ten  years,  in  the  meantime,  however, 
teaching  for  four  summers  at  Germantown.  In  1738 
he  again  returned  to  his  earlier  profession,  that  of 
teaching,  which  he  followed  until  his  death  in  1770. 
Most  of  his  time  was  spent  in  two  communities  in 
Montgomery  county — Salford  and  Skippack.  Being  a 
successful  teacher  he  was  invited  by  Christopher 
Sauer,  the  printer  of  Germantown  to  write  and  publish 
a  treatise  on  his  method  of  teaching,  for  the  benefit  of 
other  teachers 

to  whom  it  is  given  to  properly  instruct  their  children,  but 
who  may  not  be  so  well  gifted  that  they  may  find  something 
therein  to  be  helpful  to  them;  as  well  as  others  who  are  un- 
concerned whether  the  children  learn  anything  or  not,  just 
so  they  get  their  money,  that  they  may  be  made  ashamed 


9.     See  S.  W.    Pennypacker.     Historical  and   Biographical  Sketches ;    also 
Martin  G.   Brumbaugh.     The  Life  and  Works  of  Christopher  Dock. 


LITERATURE  AND  HYMNOLOGY  423 

when  they  see  that  the  parents  also  know  how  a  well  ordered 
school  should  be  conducted;  and  finally  also  to  instruct  the 
parents  how  to  deal  with  children  whom  one  desires  to 
teach  something  good,  since  in  this  land  the  parents  them- 
selves must  teach  the  children,  and  many  others  would  rather 
do  it  than  send  the  children  to  such  teachers  who  are  in- 
fected with  an  inconsistent  life. 

Dock  wrote  the  pamphlet  but  modestly  requested 
that  its  publication  be  deferred  until  after  his  death. 
And  so  it  was  not  printed  until  twenty  years  later,  after 
both  Dock  and  the  elder  Sauer  had  died  and  the  print- 
ing establishment  had  passed  into  the  hands  of  Christ- 
opher Sauer,  Jr.,  who  had  at  one  time  been  a  pupil  of 
Dock's.  The  full  title  of  the  pamphlet  is,  "Eine  ein- 
faltige  und  griindlich  abgefaszte  Schulordnung,  dar- 
innen  deutlich  vorgestellt  wird,  auf  welche  Weise  die 
Kinder  nicht  nur  in  denen  in  Schulen  gewohnlichen 
Lehren  bestens  aufgebracht,  sondern  auch  in  der 
Lehre  Gottseligkeit  wohl  unterrichtet  werden  mogen 
aus  Liebe  zu  dem  menschlichen  Geschlecht.  Auf- 
gesetzt  durch  den  wohl  erfahrenen  und  lang  geiibten 
Schulmeister  Christoph  Dock:  Und  durch  einige 
Freinde  des  gemeinen  bestens  dem  Druck  iibergeben. 
Germantown.  Gedruckt  und  zu  finden  bey  Christoph 
Sauer.    1770." 

The  Schulordnung  consists  of  answers  to  a  num- 
ber of  questions  suggested  by  Sauer  regarding  Dock's 
methods  of  teaching,  among  others, — How  he  receives 
his  children,  How  he  teaches  them  their  A,B,C's, 
How  he  maintains  discipline.  How  he  secures  the  love 
of  the  children,  etc.  In  answer  to  the  first  question, 
the  school  master  says  he  meets  the  children  with  a 
friendly  handshake,  and  asks  them  whether  they  will 
be     obedient     children.       He     starts     them     out     in 


424  MENNONITES  OF  AMERICA 

their  educational  career  by  teaching-  them  the 
A,  B,  C's.  As  soon  as  they  have  mastered 
this  their  first  step  they  pass  on  to  the  Ab's. 
Dock  believed  in  rewarding  diligence  and  in- 
dustry, and  in  securing  the  co-operation  of  the  parents 
in  encourag-ing  the  child  to  learn.  For  as  soon  as  it 
had  reached  this  stage  the  father  owed  it  a  penny  and 
the  mother  had  to  boil  it  twto  eggs.  Very  little  time 
evidently  was  given  for  play  during  the  day.  Since 
many  of  the  children  came  from  a  distance,  not  all 
would  be  present  at  the  appointed  time.  While  they 
were  gathering  in,  those  present  would  read  from  the 
New  Testament  for  the  first  exercise,  and  when  all  had 
arrived  the  work  of  the  day  was  begun  with  a  song  and 
the  Lord's  Prayer.  One  hour  was  given  for  dinner, 
but  since  children  would  be  likely  to  misuse  this  time, 
the  school  master  read  to  them  from  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. 

Dock  believed  in  appealing  to  the  pride  of  the  chil- 
dren as  an  incentive  to  good  work.  The  poorest  reader 
in  the  New  Testament  class,  which  was  the  advanced 
reading  class,  had  to  go  to  the  foot  of  the  bench.  The 
last  one  wias  always  designated  a  "lazy"  scholar.  In 
the  elementary  classes  the  child  that  learned  its  lessons 
well  received  a  cipher  marked  on  the  hand  with  chalk. 
This  meant  that  it  had  failed  in  nothing.  When  one 
"had  three  mistakes  all  cried  out  "faul"  (lazy).  "This", 
he  says,  "does  more  to  make  them  study  than  a  con- 
tinual dread  of  the  rod."  If  the  child  who  had  failed 
did  not  correct  its  mistakes  before  night  the  other 
children  might  carry  the  word  "faul"  home  with  them. 
If  it  corrected  the  mistakes  the  word  "fleiszig"  (indus- 
trious) was  called  out  by  all. 


JOHN   F.   FUNK 
(1835—) 


JOSEPH  STUCKEY 
(1825-1902) 


JOHN   S.   COFFMAN 
(1848-1899) 


J.   H.   OBERHOLTZER 
(1809-1895) 


LITERATURE  AND  HYMNOLOGY  425 

In  his  methods  of  discipline  Dock  was  perhaps 
typical  of  the  school  masters  of  his  day,  but  yet  he 
understood  human  nature  well  and  realized  the  limi- 
tations of  the  rod  as  a  corrective  for  all  the  sins  of  the 
children  under  his  care.  "A  slap  of  the  hand",  he  says, 
''and  the  birch  rod  may  keep  wickedness  from  mani- 
festing itself  but  it  cannot  change  the  heart."  Speak- 
ing of  the  prevailing  bad  habits  among  the  children 
and  the  method  of  dealing  with  them  he  says, — 

Concerning  the  means  to  prevent  these  evil  growths  from 
getting  the  upper  hand,  I  see  clearly  that  it  is  not  in  the 
power  of  man  to  destroy  the  root  in  the  ground.  God  alone 
through  the  strength  of  His  Holy  Spirit  must  give  us  His 
blessing.  Still  it  is  the  duty  of  the  preacher  and  elders,  and 
parents  and  school  masters,  first  to  themselves  and  neighbors 
and  fellowmen  and  to  the  young  to  work  as  much  as  they  are 
able  through  God's  mercy,  not  only  to  make  this  stained  coat 
hateful  but  that  it  may  be  taken  oflf. 

Among  the  faults  common  to  the  children  of  his 
day  he  mentions  swearing  and  cursing,  lying,  which 
he  calls  "an  old  time  sin  since  Adam",  stealing,  pride 
and  quarreling.  His  remedy  for  swearing  is  to  ask  the 
boy  (since  this  fault  is  confined  to  the  boys)  whether 
he  understands  what  he  says  and  whether  he  learned 
the  words  from  some  one  else  or  not.  Generally  this 
is  learned  from  some  one  else,  Dock  says.  The  boy  is 
then  instructed  in  the  meaning  of  the  words  he  uses 
and  is  told  to  instruct,  in  turn,  the  one  from  whom  he 
learned  them.  For  the  first  ofifence  no  other  punish- 
ment is  provided.  For  the  second  ofifence  the  boy  is 
seated  on  the  bench  of  punishment.  If  he  promises  to 
be  more  careful  in  the  future,  he  is  given  several  slaps 
with  the  hand.  For  later  offences  the  penalty  is  made 
more  severe.     As  to  lying,  it  is  not  in  man's  power 


426  MENNONITES  OF  AMERICA 

to  root  out  the  evil.  Preachers  and  parents  must  help 
in  destroying-  the  habit.  It  is  the  teacher's  duty  to  in- 
struct the  child  and  to  quote  appropriate  verses  of 
Scriptures. 

Dock  next  tells  how  he  maintains  silence  in  the 
■school  room.  Lessons  in  those  days  were  studied  in 
a  whisper  or  in  an  audible  tone,  as  was  also  the  custom 
in  the  schools  of  England  at  that  time.  "I  walk  up 
and  down  the  room,"  he  says,  "and  when  I  think  they 
have  learned  their  lesson  I  order  them  to  be  quiet." 

The  last  question  which  he  discusses  is^  How  to 
teach  the  children  to  love  and  fear  their  teacher.  Here 
again  Dock  shows  himself  a  natural  born  teacher.  He 
says,  "I  have  a  great  love  for  the  children,  a  grace  from 
God,  otherwise  it  would  be  a  great  burden  among  the 
scholars." 

The  religious  tone  of  this,  as  of  all  rural  schools 
of  the  time  in  Pennsylvania  was  high.  The  Testament, 
Old  and  New,  was  used  as  a  text  book  and  was  made 
the  basis  for  both  reading  and  writing.  Although  Dock 
was  a  Mennonite  and  taught  in  Mennonite  meeting 
houses,  yet  he  had  many  pupils  from  other  denomina- 
tions. Catechisms  and  creeds  he  could  not  teach,  but 
this  did  not  make  his  teaching  any  the  less  religious. 
He  read  to  his  pupils  from  the  Bible,  sang  religious 
songs,  and  made  lists  of  questions  with  answers  taken 
from  the  Scriptures  wherein  they  were  taught  "the 
fear  of  God." 

In  addition  to  this  work  on  teaching,  Dock  com- 
posed many  devotional  songs  for  children  and  also 
wrote,  "A  Hundred  Rules  of  Conduct  for  Children," 
in  which  he  describes  minutely  what  should  be  the  be- 
havior of  children  in  all  hours  of  the  day  under  every 


LITERATURE  AND  HYMNOLOGY  42T 

circumstance, — in  the  morning,  at  bed  time,  at  the 
table,  in  school  and  on  the  street.^" 

The  "schulordnung"  was  put  through  a  second 
edition  the  same  year,  and  was  issued  a  third  time  in 
1861  by  Bishop  Jacob  Nold  of  Ohio.^^  It  was  perhaps- 
never  widely  read  even  among  Mennonites,  and  is 
known  today  only  by  the  antiquarian.  It  is  given 
space  here  for  its  historical  interest,  since  it  was  per- 
haps the  first  work  on  pedagogy  or  school  teaching 
printed  in  this  country.  Today  no  history  of  education 
in  America  is  complete  without  at  least  some  reference 
to  Christopher  Dock,  the  pious  schoolmaster  on  the 
Skippack,  and  for  that  reason  too  it  is  thought  worthy 
of  a  place  in  this  short  sketch  of  the  literature  of  the 
Mennonites. 

The  remainder  of  Mennonite  literature  through- 
out the  eighteenth  and  nineteenth  centuries  is  largely 
doctrinal  and  controversial  in  character,  written  for 
the  most  part  by  those  who  have  headed  the  numer- 
ous schisms  from  the  main  body.  Except  to  the  var- 
ious branches  of  the  church  founded  by  these  writers 
the  only  interest  attached  to  these  works  lies  in  the 
information  they  give  to  the  student  of  Mennonite 
history. 

The  first  of  these  justifications  is  Christian  Funk's 


10.  Several    of   these   rules   may   not   be   without    interest   to   the   reader- 

Rule  48.  When  you  have  had  enough  get  up  quietly,  take  your 
stool  with  you,  wish  a  pleasant  meal  time  and  go  to  one  side  and 
■wait   what  will   be  commanded  you. 

Rule  49.  Do  not  stick  the  remaining  bread  in  your  pocket,  but. 
let    it    lie    on    the    table. 

Rule  34.  The  bones,  or  what  remains  over,  do  not  throw  under 
the  table,  do  not  put  them  under  the  table  cloth,  but  let  them  lie 
on  the  edge  of  the  plate. 

11.  A  copy  of  this  edition  can  be  found  in  the  library  of  John  F.  Funk^ 

£)lkhart,    Indiana. 


428  MENNONITES  OF  AMERICA 

"Ein  Aufsatz  oder  Vertheidigung  von  Christian  Funk 
geg-en  seine  Mit-Diener  der  Mennon- 
Christian  Funk  iten  Gemeinschaft,"  which  was  pub- 
lished by  Liebert  and  Billmeyer  of 
Germantown  in  1785.  It  contains  an  account  of  the 
"Funk"  schism  of  1777  and  is  practically  the  only 
printed  source  of  information  on  that  period  of  Men- 
nonite  history.  The  work  also  appeared  in  English  in 
1809  under  the  title,  "A  Mirror  for  all  Mankind,"  a 
reprint  of  which  was  made  in  1814. 

Another  author  of  several  controversial  pamphlets 
was  John  Herr,  founder  of  the  so-called  "Herrite" 
or  Reformed  Mennonite  faction.  In 
Writings  of  1816  he  published  a  pamphlet,  "The 
John  Herr  True  and  Blessed  Way."  In  1819  ap- 
peared "Eine  Kurze  und  Apostolische 
Antwort  von  mir  Johannes  Herr  auf  den  Brief  von 
Abraham  Reinke."  His  "Erlauterungs  Spiegel,  oder 
Eine  Griindliche  Erklarung  von  der  Bergpredigt,"  was 
published  at  Lancaster  in  1827.  As  already  seen,  in 
1863  he  edited  and  published  an  incomplete  edition  of 
the  works  of  Menno  Simons.  In  this  edition  he  wrote 
a  preface  in  which  he  compares  Menno's  teaching  with 
his  own  and  points  out  that  in  no  way  has  he  deviated 
from  the  path  follow^ed  by  that  leader. 

The  most  able  writer  of  the  Reformed  Mennonite 
church,  and  its  historian,  was  Daniel  Musser  of  Lan- 
caster county,  whose  first  liter- 
Daniel  Musser's  ary  effort  was  a  pamphlet  pub- 
History  of  the  lished  in  1860  under  the  title. 
Reformed  Mennonites  "A  Comparison  of  the  Present 
Nominal  Church  with  the  Script- 
ural Representation  of  the  Church  of  Christ."     This 


LITERATURE  AND  HYMNOLOGY  429 

was  followed  by  "Nonresistance  Asserted",  which  was 
published  near  the  close  of  the  Civil  war.  Both  of 
these  pamphlets  have  appeared  in  the  same  volume 
with  his  larger  and  most  important  work,  "The  Re- 
formed Mennonite  Church,  Its  Rise  and  Progress,  with 
its  Principles  and  Doctrines,"  published  at  Lancaster 
in  1873. 

The  purpose  of  Musser's  history  is  to  justify  Herr 
and  his  followers  in  the  schism  of  1812.  Although  de- 
cidedly biased  in  his  judgments,  he  shows  a  wide 
range  of  knowledge  in  the  general  field  of  Mennonite 
history.  He  takes  up  the  history  of  the  old  Mennonite 
church  from  the  days  of  Menno  Simons  and  tries  to 
show  that  although  it  has  since  become  spiritually 
dead,  yet  at  that  time  it  was  a  pure  church.  Soon  after 
persecutions  ceased,  however,  and  the  Mennonites 
were  given  religious  liberty  they  began  to  forget  God 
and  to  become  corrupt.  This  corruption  had  probably 
already  set  in  when  the  first  settlement  was  made  in 
America  in  1683.  But  from  this  time  on  the  church 
hastened  rapidly  to  a  complete  corruption,  so  that  by 
1800  it  was  a  dead  institution.  It  was  this  condition  of 
things,  according  to  Musser,  that  caused  Herr's  follow- 
ers to  withdraw  from  the  old  body  and  organize  what 
they  considered  a  pure  church.  The  major  part  of 
the  book  is  taken  up  with  an  attempt  to  show  from 
contemporary  authority  that  the  church  was  spiritually 
dead,  and  with  a  history  of  the  early  steps  in  the 
organization  of  the  Reformed  Mennonites.^- 

Another  book  similar  in  character  and  purpose  to 


12.     The  Mennonite  Church  and  her  Accusers  by  John  F.  Funk  is  a  reply- 
to   Musser's   book. 


430  MENNONITES  OF  AMERICA 

that  of  Miisser's,  was  written  in  1850  by  Jacob  Stauffer 
and  published  at  Lancaster  in  1855  un- 
The  StauflFer      der    the    title,    "Ein    Chronik    oder    Ge- 
Book  schicht-Biichlein  der  Sogenannten  Men- 

nonisten  Gemeinde."  Stauffer,  like 
Musser,  covers  briefly  the  early  history  of  the  church, 
but  dwells  chiefly  upon  his  own  personal  experience  in 
the  church  at  the  time  he  was  expelled,  and  upon  his 
efforts  to  build  up  an  organization  of  his  own. 

About  this  same  time,  in  1847,  occured  the  Ober- 
holtzer  schism,  which  was  also  productive  of  several 
controversial  pamphlets,  the  most  im- 
Pamphlets  by  portant  of  which  are  two  written  by 
Oberholtzer  Oberholtzer  himself.  The  first  ap- 
peared in  1853  under  the  name,  "Auf- 
schlusz  der  Verfolgungen  gegen  Daniel  Hoch  von 
Canada."  The  second,  "Verantwortung  und  Erlauter- 
ung,"  was  published  at  Milford  Square,  Pennsylvania, 
in  1860. 

The  most  prolific  writer  among  all  the  Mennonite 
schismatics  was  John  Holdeman,  of  Wayne  county,. 

Ohio,  founder  of  the  so-called  Holde- 
John  Holdeman  man  branch  of  the  church.  In  1864 
a  Prolific  Writer     appeared,  "A  Reply  to  the  Criticisms 

of  I.  W.  Rosenborough,"  on  the  work 
entitled  the  "Old  Foundation."  The  next  year  he  pub- 
lished, "Eine  Vertheidigung  gegen  die  Verfalscher  Un- 
serer  Schriften,  wie  auch  eine  Erklarung  und  Erlau- 
terung  der  Absicht  der  Christlichen  Taufe."  This 
was  followed  in  1876  by,  "A  History  of  the  Church  of 
God",  which  is  the  chief  printed  source  of  information 
for  the  origin  of  this  branch  of  the  denomination.  In 
1878  appeared  a  comprehensive  doctrinal  work  called 


LITERATURE  AND  HYMNOLOGY  431 

"Ein  Spiegel  der  Wahrheit."  This  was  followed  in 
189U  by,  "A  Treatise  on  Redemption,  Baptism  and  the 
Lord's  Supper,"  and  in  1891  by,  "A  Treatise  on  Mag- 
istracy, War,  Millennium,  Holiness  and  the  Manifesta- 
tion of  Spirits." 

One  other  book  deserves  mention  in  this  short 
sketch  of  Mennonite  literature,  Benjamin  Eby's 
"Kurzgefaszte  Kirchen-Geschichte  und  Glaubenslehre 
der  Taufgesinnten  oder  Mennoniten."  This  was  prac- 
tically the  first  unbiased  historical  sketch  of  the  Men- 
nonites  that  was  writen  by  an  American  author.  It 
was  first  printed  in  1841  and  was  later  reissued  at  Lan- 
caster in  1853,  since  which  time  it  has  appeared  in 
several  editions. 

The  modern  rage  for  writing  books  has  not 
escaped  the  Mennonites.  During  recent  years  a  con- 
siderable number  of  works  of  a  doctrinal,  historical  or 
devotional  character  have  appeared.  These  are  too 
numerous  to  mention  here,  and  whether  any  of  them 
will  live  beyond  their  own  short  day  time  alone  can 
tell.  Among  the  best  known  of  living  writers  on  Men- 
nonite subjects  are  J.  F.  Funk,  M.  S.  Steiner,  Daniel 
Kauffman  and  John  Horsch  among  the  Old  Mennon- 
ites, and  H.  P.  Krehbiel  and  N.  B.  Grubb  among  the 
General  Conference  Mennonites. 

Turning  now  to  the  hymnology  of  the  early  Men- 
nonites we  find  of  course  that  they  brought  with  them 

such  hymnbooks  as  were  in  use  among 
Hymnology      their  brethren  in  their  native  land.     The 

Hollanders  no  doubt  brought  the  hymns 
sung  among  the  Mennonites  in  the  Netherlands,  while 
the  Palatines  came  with  the  well  known  Ausbund,  or 
"Dicke  Liederbuch"  as  it  was  popularly  called  in  later 


432  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

years.     Since  the  settlement  in  Pennsylvania  came  to 
be  almost  entirely  German,  the  Ausbund  became  the 

leading   hymnbook    in    all    the    Mennonite 
Ausbund       churches.     The  Ausbund,  the  full   title  of 

which  reads,  "Ausbund;  das  ist  etliche 
schone  Lieder,  wie  sie  im  Gefangnis  zu  Passau  in  dem 
Schloss  von  den  Schweitzer  Briidern  und  anderen 
Rechtglaubigen  Christen  gedichtet  worden,"  is  a  com- 
pilation of  hymns,  sung  originally  by  the  Schweizer 
brethren^^  who  were  imprisoned  in  the  castle  of  Passau 
in  Bavaria  in  1527.  To  the  hymns  sung  by  these  peo- 
ple, others  were  added  from  time  to  time  until  in  its 
final  form  the  Ausbund  contained  one  hundred  forty 
hymns,  some  with  more  than  thirty  long  stanzas.  The 
first  edition  was  printed  in  Switzerland  in  1571  where 
it  soon  became  the  popular  song  book  of  the  Mennon- 
ites  of  that  region.  When  later  the  Swiss  were  driven 
into  the  Palatinate,  it  was  introduced  into  Germany. 
Several  editions  were  printed  during  the  seventeenth 
century,  although  it  had  to  be  done  secretly.  The  first 
American  edition  was  printed  in  1742  by  Christopher 
Sauer  of  Germantown,  It  was  reprinted  in  1751,  1767, 
1785,  1815,  and  six  times  since,  making  eleven  editions 
in  all,  the  last  of  which  appeared  in  1905  at  Elkhart, 
Indiana. 

It  was  at  first  in  common  use  among  both 
branches  of  the  Mennonite  church,  but  before  1800  the 
Mennonites  began  to  discard  it  for  more  modern 
hymns.  The  Amish,  however,  everywhere  retained  it, 
and  it  is  still  in  use  among  the  Old  Order  Amish. 

The  Ausbund  is  perhaps  one  of  the  oldest  hymn- 


13.     For  a  short  history  of  the  Schweizer  Briider  see  Martyrs  Mirror. 


LITERATURE  AND  HYMNOLOGY  433 

books  in  use  anywhere  among  Protestant  churches. 
It  contains  hymns  written  by  the  early  martyrs,  most- 
ly Anabaptist,  hymns  reciting  the  story  of  the  death 
of  some  of  these  men  and  women,  and  hymns  expound- 
ing various  church  doctrines. 

Among  those  of  the  first  class  is  hymn  five  written 
by  George  Blaurock  who  was  burned  at  the  stake  in 
1527.  Number  six  was  written  by  Felix  Mantz,  while 
Michael  Sattler,  another  early  martyr  wrote  the  sev- 
enth, and  Hans  Hut,  the  eighth.  These  men  were  the 
leading  Anabaptists  of  their  day  and  all  died  for  their 
faith.  Among  hymns  which  were  not  written  by  Ana- 
baptists is  number  thirty-eight  of  which  John  Huss 
is  the  author. 

The  eleventh  hymn,  still  popular  among  the 
Amish,  tells  the  story  of  the  martyrdom  of  Jorg  Wag- 
ner. The  second  verse  illustrates  the  narrative  char- 
acter of  many  of  the  songs  of  this  class. 

Also  that  Jorg  der  Wagner  auch 
Gen  Himmel  fuhr  er  in  dem  Rauch 

Durch    Kreuz   ward    er   bewahret 

Gleich  wie  man  thut  dem  klaren  Gold 

Von  Herzen  ers  begehret. 

Verse  seven  continues  the  story  of  his  death, 

Der   Henker   fiihrt   ihn   an   ein'm   strick 
Im  Rathaus  las  man  ihm  vier  stiick 

Darauf  stund  ihm  sein  Leben 
Eh  er  eins  widerrufen  wollt 

In  Tod  that  er  sich  geben. 

One  of  the  best  known  of  these  hymns  during  the 
middle  of  the  last  century  among  the  Amish,  and  still 


434  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

sung  in  some  localities  is  the  so-called  Haszlibacher 
Lied,  which  tells  of  the  faith  and  death  of  Hans  Haszli- 
bach.  The  first  verse  is  introductory  to  the  story 
which  the  following  verses  narrate. 

Was  wend  wir  aber  heben  an 

Zu  singen  von  ein'm  alten   Mann 

Der  war  von  Haszlibach. 

Haszlibacher  ward  er  genannt 

Aus    der    Kilchori    Summiswald. 

This  Haszlibach,  being  suspected  of  heresy,  was 
taken  into  custody  by  the  authorities  of  the  State 
Church  and  cast  into  prison.  Considering  it  their 
duty,  however,  to  turn  him  from  the  error  of  his  ways^ 
the  priests  entered  his  cell  one  Friday  morning  for 
that  purpose,  but  all  of  no  avail. 

Der   Haszlibacher   auf  der   Statt 

Sie  ijber  disputiret  hat 
Da  sprach  er  bald  zu  ihn'n 

Von  mein'm  Glauben  thu  ich  nicht  abstan 
Eh  will  ich   Leib  und   Leben  lahn. 

On  Saturday  night  an  angel  visited  him  in  prison 
and  urged  him  to  remain  steadfast  in  his  faith,  promis- 
ing to  sustain  him  in  the  coming  ordeal.  On  Monday 
night  the  priests  again  entered  the  prison  to  persuade 
tim  to  recant,  but  again  in  vain.  The  old  man  nobly 
determined  to  stand  by  his  convictions. 

Von  mein'm   Glaub  thu  ich  nicht  abstahn 
Das    Gottlieb    Wort   ich    Selber    kann 

Mein  sach  befehl  ich  Gott 

Es  ist  mein'm  Herz  ein  ringe  Busz 

Wan  ich  unschuldig  sterben  musz. 


LITERATURE  AND   HYMNOLOGY  435 

He  was  finally  put  to  death  but  before  the  deed 
had  been  done  an  angel  had  again  appeared  to  him  and 
had  prophesied  that  three  signs  would  appear  at  his 
beheading.  These  prophecies  were  fulfilled  as  the 
•executioner  severed  the  head  from  the  body. 

Darnach  man  ihm  sein  Haupt  abschlug 
Da  sprang  er  wieder  in  sein'  Hut. 

Die   Zeichen  hat   man  gesehen 
Die  Sonne  ward  wie  rothes  Blut 

Der   Stadel-Brunn   that   schwitzen   Blut. 

The  executioner,  witnessing  these  signs,  became 
convinced  that  he  had  shed  innocent  blood  and  him- 
self became  a  convert  to  the  new  faith. 

This  song  with  the  moral  at  the  end  wiritten  by 
one  who  was  a  fellow  prisoner  of  Haszlibach's  is  typ- 
ical of  many  of  the  martyr  songs  in  the  book,  with 
this  exception,  however,  that  few  contain  such  a  large 
•element  of  superstition  and  show  such  a  firm  belief  in 
the  supernatural. 

In  addition  to  these  martyr  hymns,  the  book  con- 
tains a  few  of  a  devotional  nature  and  a  larger  number 
of  a  doctrinal  character.  Religion  in  those  days  was 
much  more  closely  associated  with  doctrine  than  now, 
and  hence  we  find  that  many  of  the  songs  of  the  time, 
instead  of  giving  expression  to  the  gratitude  of  the 
Tieart  for  favors  bestowed  or  to  some  spiritual  longing 
of  the  soul,  contain  an  exposition  of  some  Bible  doc- 
trine. Thus  hymn  number  fifty-seven  treats  of  love, 
and  begins  with,  "Die  Lieb  ist  kalt  jetzt  in  der  Welt." 
Number  fifty  bears  the  title,  "Ein  Ander  Schon  Lied 
von  den  Sieben  Gaben  des  Heiligen  Geistes."  Hymn 
iifty-four  discusses  infant  baptism.     Eighty-one  deals 


4-^6  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

wi*h  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  and  is  a  good  illustra- 
tion of  this  class  of  songs.  The  first  verse  reads  as 
follows : 

Herr  Gott  Vater,  zu  dir  ich  schrey 

Ich  bitt,  dein  Weisheit  mir  verley 
Dasz  ich  ein  Lied  mog  singen 

Vom  wesen  deiner  Einigkeit 
Das  sich  verlegt  in  die  Dreyheit 

Herr  Gott,  lasz  mir  gelingen 
Dann  je  allein  du  warst  und  bist 

Ewig  zu  alien  Zeiten. 

Die   Dreyheit   sollt  du  wohl  verstahn 

Wie  sie  Johannes  zeiget  an 
Vater,  Wort,   Geist  thut  nennen 

Sie  in  dem  Himmel  Zeugeri  seyn. 
Die  drei  namen  dienen  in  ein 

Ihr  sollt  es  wohl  vernehmen 
Des  Vaters  allmachtige  Kraft 

Wird    ersehen    bei'n    Geschopfcn 
Die   er   durch   das   Wort   hat  gemacht 

Sein    Geist    all's    thut    bekraften 
Wann  er  sich  des  wiird  unterstahn 

Den  Geist  in  sich  zu  sammeln 
Miiszt's    all's    wieder   vergahn. 

Then   follow  seventeen   more   stanzas    of    the    same 
length  and  along  the  same  strain. 

These  hymns  have  been  sung  in  America  for  two 
hundred  years,  and  in  Switzerland  for  almost  two 
hundred  more,  with  scarcely  any  change  either  in  mel- 
•ody  or  in  words.  The  book  has  never  been  revised, 
merely  reprinted.  The  Amish  have  always  been  op- 
posed to  the  use  of  notes  and  so  the  melodies  even 
within  the  last  hundred  j^ears  wherever  the  book  is 
■used,  have  been  learned  by  ear  and  in  this  wiay  trans- 


LITERATURE   AND   HYMNOLOGY  437 

mitted  from  one  generation  to  another.^  These  old 
hymns  although  pervaded  by  the  somber  and  gloomy 
atmosphere  of  the  times  when  they  were  written,  and 
with  no  poetical  merit  and  with  very  little  of  the  true 
spirit  of  praise,  yet  have  this  decided  superiority  over 
many  of  our  modern  songs — they  have  the  ring  of 
sincerity  in  them.  Many  of  them  were  composed  by 
writers  who  were  in  prison  waiting  to  be  led  to  the 
stake  or  the  executioner's  block.  And  thus  whatever 
€lse  may  be  said  about  them,  they  at  least  express  a 
real  and  sincere  anguish  or  hope  of  the  heart.  It  is 
this  sincerity  together  with  the  simplicity  of  expres- 
sion which  has  made  these  hymns  hold  their  own  for 
so  many  years.^* 

As  already  said,  the  Mennonites  began  to  discard 
the  Ausbund  before  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury.   The  first  distinctively  Mennonite  hymnal  after 


3..  The  Atnish  never  set  their  hymns  to  written  music.  For  the  two 
following  songs  I  am  indebted  to  Professor  Joseph  W.  Yoder, 
director  of  music  in  the  State  Normal  School  of  Lockhaven,  Penn- 
sylvania. The  music  attempts  to  reproduce  as  nearly  as  possible 
the  exact  melody  of  these  two  songs  as  they  are  still  sung  among 
the  Amish  of  Pennsylvania  and  other  states.  Professor  Yoder 
gives    these    instructions    for    reading    music : 

"All  the  notes  between  two  consecutive  bars  are  sung  to  one 
syllable.  This  necessitates  slurring  throughout  the  entire  piece, 
and  as  slurring  is  one  of  the  characteristics  of  these  tunes,  the 
marks  indicating  slurs  are  omitted,  but  understood.  The  whole 
notes  represent  a  sustaining  of  the  voice  almost  as  long  as  a  whole 
note  in  2-2  time ;  the  half  note  somewhat  shorter  and  the  quarter 
note  a  quick  swing  of  the  voice,  a  mere  touch  of  the  voice  to  that 
note ;  and  the  double  notes  represent  a  rather  long  sustaining  of 
the  voice.  A  slight  stress  of  the  voice  on  the  first  part  of  each 
syllable,  is  probably  as  near  to  the  accent  as  we  can  come,  as 
there   is   little   if   any   accent." 

14.  Many  of  the  editions  of  the  Ausbund  have  an  appendix  containing 
the  names  of  Swiss  martyrs  from  1635  to  1646.  Many  of  these 
names  sound  familiar  to  American  Mennonites  and  Amish.  Among 
them  are — Meyli,  Frick,  Gut,  Kolb,  Landis,  Huber,  Bachman, 
Heesz,    Egly,    Niissly,   Schnebly. 


Weil  nun  die  Zeit  vorhanden  ist. 


Weil 


nun  die 


Zeit  vor  -   han  - 


gi^^ 


-j_j. 


■^— -^-F<9-^5=  -^:r^ 


'^"^^^^^^E^ 


den 


ist,         Dasz       wir        hie  miis     -    t^en 


(5'-^-H+<&+ 


-;^^- 


J-g-F^j 


-J — 


schei     -     den 

1- 


So 


u| ^-xA—r r J r 


woU        uns 

-4- 


Gott 


g?->g-i>?-|-— J— ^h — j^ 


E^ 


zu         die     -     ser         Frist        Ge    -    uii    -    dig     -     lich 


^M^Mm^^-^^^ 


;|=5 


ge 


lei      -      ten :  Dasz 


Avir  be 


"-""*:EN«?5=| 


P^5^jg^i^=^^^ 


tracb     -      ten       fort        und        fort      Sein   jetzt    ge 


pfe=^gg2^^^.^^;=^g:g:^^^T^.|:^zz^gg|g:g^^ 


hor      -      tes         heil 


ig 


Wort 


:=q^=q: 


'(9-<^<&-2:r<si-^sr»-'-^^i-^- 


Und 


uns 


mo    -    gen  be 


rei      -     ten. 


if^^^^liig^^^^Jll 


Der  Lobgesang. 


1^ 

ID 


Dasz 


Gott  Va 

du  dich, 


G> 


•^- 


l.^__^^^^ 


ter 
o 

-1- 


wir 
Herr, 


i^^^i±E^^=^Ebi^:i^ 


lo 
gnii 


ben 
disi 


dich, 
lich, 


ne 
neu 


r.g'-^-^-^-'g-i^r-  — (^ Y7:r^ 


Uud 
An 

4-1 


dei  - 
uns 


'■'5>-^'i9-:ri-^- 


I 


Gii 
hast 


te 
be 


prei 
wie 


sen; 
sen: 


--__^g-g-gI^g-^_ 


.^-^-^- 


■Ct-^. 


fi^-^2-i:.^_ii 


Und 


hast 


Herr 


4-r^-^- 


--■a-^-TS-G) 


-Bc-^-^=^^4j^ 


i-g?-<^- 


:^-F 


I 


g'fiihrt 


Uns 


-;^-<&- 


-«£-^- 


■h 


^i^Eg^^^^^^^j^^^ 


durch 


* 


dein 


Wort; 


Gieb 


uns 


-zg-^s*-^ 


:=t=: 


'-ig      1^    pli^H 


ii 


--51=^^^-^ 


■g,—^—G>-n—'S*— 


Ge 


nad 


die 


■g-gl-— S<-  -6^^^-gi-— hg,-^-s) 


z^=i=E^i?ife±=H 


440  MENNONITES    OF   AMERICA 

the  Ausbund  was  a  book  called  "Die  Kleine  Geistliche 
Harfe,"  which  consisted  of  four  hun- 
Die  Kleine  dred   and    seventy-   five   psalms   and 

■Geistliche  Harfe  hymns,  for  a  few  of  which  the  music 
was  printed  with  the  words.  The 
first  edition  was  printed  in  1803  on  the  Billmeyer  press 
of  Germantown,  under  the  title  of  "Die  Geistliche  Harfe 
der  Kinder  Zions  oder  Auserlesene  geistreiche  Ge- 
sange  alien  Heilsbegierigen ;  Insonderheit  aber 
alien  Christlichen  Gemeinden  des  Herrn  zum  Dienst 
und  Gebrauch  mit  Fleisz  zusammen  getragen  und  in 
gegenwartige  Form  und  Ordnung  gestellt  nebst  einem 
dreyfachen  Register.  Auf  Verordnung  der  Mennonis- 
ten  Gemeinden."  The  purpose  of  the  publishing  of  a 
new  hymn  book  appears  in  the  preface  of  this  edition, 
which  shows  that  for  some  time  before  the  Ausbund 
had  no  longer  been  in  common  use.    The  preface  reads, 

Weil  die  Psalmen  David's  mehrenteils  gebrauchlich  waren 
in  der  Versammlung  und  man  docli  nicht  uberall  solche 
biicher  gehabt  auch  in  mancher  Versammlung  zwei  oder 
dreierley  Gesangbiicher  waren  so  hat  Man  es  dienlich  an- 
gesehen  ein  Gesangbuch  drucken  za  lassen  damit  Man  sich 
mit  mehrer  gleichformigkeit  in  dem  Lob  und  der  Anbetung 
Gottes  Unsers  Heilandes  Jesus  Christus  Vereinigen  konnte. 

Other  editions  of  "Die  Kleine  Harfe"  appeared  in  1811, 
1820,  1834,  1848  and  several  times  since. 

Another   book  which   appeared   about   the   same 
time  and  was  in  general  use  among  the  Mennonite 
churches  during  the  first  three  quarters 
Unparteiisches     of    the    nineteenth    century,    was    the 
Gesangbuch  "Unpartheiisches     Gesangbuch."     The 

first  edition  was  printed  by  Johann 
Albrecht  of  Lancaster  in  1804.  The  title  page  reads  as 
follows,  "Ein  Unparteiisches  Gesangbuch,  enthaltend 


LITERATURE   AND   HYMNOLOGY  441 

Geistreiche  Lieder  und  Psalmen  zum  Allgemeinen  Ge- 
brauch  des  wahren  Gottesdienstes.  Auf  Begehren  der 
Briiderschaft  der  Mennonisten  Gemeinen  aus  vielen 
Liederbiichern  gesammelt  mit  einem  dreifachen  Re- 
gister zum  erstenmal  ans  Licht  gestellt."  This  hym- 
nal was  reprinted  in  1808,  1820,  1829,  1841  and  several 
times  since,  and  is  still  used  in  some  parts  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. The  "Allgemeine  Lieder-Sammlung",  popular 
among  the  German  speaking  Mennonites  and  the 
Amish,  w^as  first  published  by  J.  F.  Funk  and  Brother, 
of  Elkhart,  in  1871. 

The  first  .English  song  book  was  compiled  by  a 
committee  of  Virginia  Mennonites  and  published  at 
Harrisonburg,  Virginia,  in  1847,  under 
First  English  the  title,  "A  Selection  of  Psalms, 
Hymnal— 1847  Hymns  and  Spiritual  Songs."  The 
book  was  reprinted  five  times  by  Joseph 
Funk  on  his  hand  press  at  Singers  Glen,  Virginia.  He 
later  sold  his  rights  to  J.  F.  Funk  and  Brother  who 
have  since  printed  several  editions. 

Almost  without  exception  these  books  thus  far 
described  were  without  notes,  since  both  Mennonites 
and  Amish  regarded  written  music  in 
"Note"  Books      the  church  hymnals  as  a  worldly  inno- 
vation.   There  v^s  no  objection,  how- 
ever, to  learning  new  tunes  for  the  old  hymns  from 
other  note  books.       Joseph  Funk  in  order  to  supply 
this  need  published  in  1832  a  note  book  of  sacred  melo- 
dies, "The  Harmonia  Sacra."    This  book  soon  became 
very  popular  among  the  Mennonites 
Harmonia  Sacra      of   Virginia    and    Pennsylvania,   and 
was     extensively    used     in     singing 
schools  and  as  a  book  of  melodies  for  the  hymnals 


442  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

which  appeared  later.  It  passed  through  seventeen 
•editions,  and  was  for  many  years  the  recognized  com- 
pendium of  church  music  in  Virginia,  Pennsylvania 
and  other  eastern  states. 

"The  Philharmonia,"  compiled  by  Martin  Wenger 
and  first  published  by  J.  F.  Funk  and  Brother  in  1875, 

was  the  successor  to  the  Harmonia 
Philharmonia      Sacra   and   fulfilled    the    same    purpose. 

It  is  still  in  print. 

During  the  -past  fifty  years  many  hymnals  have 
appeared  among  the  various  branches  of  the  Mennonite 
<:hurch,  but  space  can  not  be  taken  here  to  enumerate 
them.  Neither  is  it  necessary,  since  none  of  them 
"have  occupied  an  important  place  in  the  history  of 
Mennonite  church  music.  They  have  usually  lasted 
for  only  a  few  years. 

In  addition  to  the  various  forms  of  religious  liter- 
ature thus  far  described  there  was  another  form  of 
reading  matter  with  which  the  Mennon- 
German  ites  of   Colonial   times   as   well  as  other 

Almanacs  Germans  of  Southeastern  Pennsylvania 
were  familiar, — the  well  known  Sauer 
Almanac,  published  first  by  Christopher  Sauer,  Sr., 
and  later  by  his  son,  Christopher  Sauer,  Jr.  This  al- 
manac which  was  printed  annually  for  about  three 
quarters  of  a  century,  together  with  perhaps  a  few 
books  on  medicine  and  household  economy  furnished 
practically  all  the  secular  reading  matter  found  on  the 
book  shelves  of  that  day.  The  Sauer  Almanac  was 
followed  early  in  the  nineteenth  century  by  the 
Baer  Almanac  of  Lancaster.  This  publication 
"was    found    in    nearly    every    Mennonite    home    in 


LITERATURE  AND  HYMNOLOGY      443'' 

Pennsylvania  and  other  eastern  states  during  the 
middle  half  of  the  century  and  is  still  in  print.  The 
first  almanac  published  expressly  for  the  Mennonite 
people  was  issued  by  J.  F.  Funk  and  Brother.  It  first 
appeared  in  1870  and  has  since  then  acquired  a  wide- 
circulation.  It  contained  the  names  of  all  the  min- 
isters of  the  church  and  other  church  information  of 
value.  In  addition  to  this  almanac  there  have  also 
appeared  within  recent  years  two  year-books,  one 
published  by  the  Eastern  Conference  of  the  General 
Conference  Mennonites,  and  the  other  by  the  Mennon- 
ite Board  of  Missions  and  Charities. 

No  branch  of  the  denomination  until  within  recent 
years  has   owned   or  controlled   a  printing   establish- 
ment.    Such  books  as  the  church  need- 
Early  Printing    ed  or  as  individuals  desired  to  publish 
Presses  were    printed    by    the    early    German 

printers  of  Pennsylvania,  or  during  the 
nineteenth  century,  occasionally  in  other  states.  The 
Lest  known  of  these  early  printers  of  Pennsylvania 
were  Christopher  Sauer  of  Germantown,  and  the  Eph- 
rata  Brethren  in  Lancaster  county.  Nearly  all  of  the 
Mennonite  books  of  the  eighteenth  century  were  issued 
from  these  two  establishments.  These  in  turn  were 
followed  near  the  close  of  the  century  by  the  Billmeyer 
press  of  Germantown  the  successor  to  the  establish- 
ment of  Christopher  Sauer,  Jr.,  Avho  in  turn  had  suc- 
ceeded his  father.  During  the  early  part  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  Joseph  Ehrenfried  of  Philadelphia,, 
printed  an  edition  of  the  Martyrs  Mirror,  an  edition 
of  Dirck  Philip's  Handbiichlein  and  perhaps  several 
other  Mennonite  books.  The  press,  however,  which 
occupied  a  position  among  the  Mennonites  and  other 


444  MENNONITES    OF   AMERICA 

Germans  of  Pennsylvania  during  the  early  part  of  the 
nineteenth  century  similar  to  that  of  the  Sauer  press 
during  the  eighteenth,  was  that  of  Johann  Baer  and 
Son  of  Lancaster.  None  of  these  printers  were  Men- 
nonites. 

The  first  venture  of  the  American  Mennonites  in 
the  publication  field  was  made  by  Henry  Bertolet,  a 
minister  in  the  Skippack  congregation,  who  published 
a  paper  called  "Der  Evangelische  Botschafter"  in  July 
1836,  There  was  so  much  opposition  to  the  move- 
ment, however,  that  only  one  issue  was  published.^' 

In  1847  Joseph  Funk  of  Virginia  established  in  a 
small  village,  since  called  Singers  Glen,  in  Rocking- 
ham county,  a  small  hand  press  upon 
Mennonite  which  for  many  years  were  printed  the 
Presses  Harmonia  Sacra,  the  Collection  of  Hymns 

and  Songs,  and  other  publications.  Soon 
after  this,  in  1852,  J.  H.  Oberholtzer  set  up  a  small 
press  in  Milford  Square,  Bucks  county,  Pennsylvania, 
upon  which  was  printed  the  "Religioser  Botschafter", 
the  predecessor  of  the  "Christlicher  Bundesbote,"  the 
German  organ  of  the  General  Conference  branch  of  the 
denomination.  The  largest  and  most  important  of  the 
printing  establishments  devoted  to  the  interests  of  the 
church  was  that  of  John  F.  Funk  and  Brother,  first 
located  in  Chicago  in  1864,  but  later  removed  to  Elk- 
hart, Indiana.  This  firm  which  has  since  become  the 
Mennonite  Publishing  Company,  for  many  years 
issued  the  Herald  of  Truth,  the  leading  organ  of  the 
main  br.-inch  of  Mennonites,  and  a  number  of  other 
religious  papers,  and  has  served  as  the  official  publish- 


15.     See  article  by  Daniel  Kauffman  in  Family  Almanac,  1909.     Scottdale, 
Pa. 


LITERATURE  AND  HYMNOLOGY  445 

ing  house  for  a  large  part  of  the  church.  The  most 
recent  private  Mennonite  publishing  concern  was  the 
Gospel  Witness  Company  of  Scottdale,  Pennsylvania. 
None  of  these  enterprises  were  owned  or  controlled  by 
the  church.  In  1908  a  publication  board,  appointed  by 
various  Mennonite  and  Amish  Conferences  purchased 
the  periodicals  of  the  Mennonite  Publishing  Company,, 
the  Gospel  Witness  Company  and  the  Mennonite  Book 
and  Tract  Society,  and  established  The  Mennonite 
Publishing  House,  which  is  now  located  at  Scottdale, 
Pennsylvania.  The  new  firm  is  now  controlled  by  the 
church  and  is  the  church  publishing  house  of  the  Old 
Mennonites  and  the  Amish.  The  Herald  of  Truth 
and  the  Gospel  Witness  have  been  merged  into  the 
Gospel  Herald.  The  House  now  publishes  five  weekly 
papers  in  both  the  German  and  English  languages,  one 
monthly  and  various  church  and  Sunday  school  sup- 
plies. Other  branches  of  the  denomination  also  have 
their  church  papers  which  are  issued  either  by  private 
enterprises,  or  by  church  publishing  houses. 


CHAPTER  XVII 


THE   PRESENT 

It  is  the  purpose  here  to  present  the  reader  with 
a  brief  summary  of  the  present  status  of  the  various 

branches  of  the  denomination.  The 
Branches  of  the  names  assumed  by  some  of  these 
Denomination  divisions  may  be  misleading  to  one 

not  acquainted  with  the  history  of 
the  church.  The  tendency  among  all  is  to  use  the 
term  Mennonite.  Even  the  Amish  now  speak  of 
themselves  as  Amish-Mennonites,  and  two  of  the 
divisions  of  this  branch  have  assumed  the  name 
Mennonite,  without  any  reference  to  the  prefix.  The 
classification  made  here  is  based  not  upon  the  name 
used  but  upon  the  origin  of  the  dififerent  branches. 
The  two  main  divisions  which  existed  at  the  begin- 
ning of  their  American  history,  and  from  which  all 
later  divisions  have  sprung  are  the  Mennonites  and 
the  Amish.  The  largest  of  these  is  the  Mennonite, 
which  is  further  subdivided  into  the  Old  Mennonites, 
Reformed  Mennonites  (Herrites),  "Wisler"  Menno- 
nites, General  Conference  Mennonites,  Mennonite 
Brethren  in  Christ,  Church  of  God  in  Christ  (Holde- 
manite),  and  Brueder  Gemeinde. 


THE  PRESENT  447 

Of  these  the  Old  Mennonites  embrace  the  largest 
membership.     This   is  the   parent  body  from   which 

the  others  have  sprung  and  is  still 
Old  Mennonites       conservative   in   spirit   and   religious 

practice.  The  term  old  is  not  an 
official  part  of  the  name,  but  is  used  here  merely  to 
distinguish  the  main  body  from  the  later  divisions. 
It  includes  the  following  conferences,  all  of  which 
are  entirely  independent  of  one  another — Lancaster 
county,  Franconia  (composed  of  the  churches  in 
Montgomery,  Bucks  and  Berks  counties),  Southwest- 
ern Pennsylvania,  Washington  county  (Md.)  and 
Franklin  county  (Pa.),  Virginia,  Ohio,  Indiana-Mich- 
igan, Illinois,  Iowa-Missouri,  Kansas-Nebraska,  Pa- 
cific coast,  Nebraska-Minnesota  (composed  of  Ger- 
mans from  Russia),  Ontario,  and  Alberta-Saskatch- 
ewan. By  far  the  largest  of  these  is  the  Lancaster 
county  conference.  It  is  also  the  most  conservative 
and  is  not  altogether  in  sympathy  with  the  progressive 
spirit  of  some  of  the  western  conferences. 

The  official  church  organ  of  the  Old  Mennonites 
is  the  Gospel  Herald,  published  by  the  Mennonite 
Publishing  House,  at  Scottdale,  Pennsylvania.  These 
conferences  also  support  the  Mennonite  Board  of  Mis- 
sions and  Charities,  which  has  established  a  foreign 
mission  in  India,  and  a  number  of  home  missions  in 
various  large  cities,  including  Chicago,  Philadelphia,. 
Kansas  City,  Toronto,  Ft.  Wayne,  Canton,  and  others. 
Some  of  the  conferences  also  through  the  Mennonite 
Board  of  .Education,  control  Goshen  College  and  the 
school  at  Hesston,  Kansas.  Among  the  men  still  liv- 
ing, who  have  been  most  influential  within  recent: 
years  in  the  church  are  John  F.  Funk,  founder  of  the 


448  MENNONITES    OF   AMERICA 

Herald  of  Truth  and  the  Mennonite  Publishing  Com- 
pany, author,  publisher  and  preacher;  Daniel  Kauff- 
man,  writer,  editor  of  the  Gospel  Herald,  and  evan- 
gelist; J.  S.  Shoemaker;  Menno  S.  Steiner,  author 
and  preacher,  and  president  of  the  Mennonite  Board 
of  Missions  and  Charities;  Jacob  N.  Brubacher  and 
Isaac  Eby,  bishops  of  Lancaster  county;  A.  S.  Mack,, 
bishop  in  the  Franconia  district;  A.  D.  Wenger, 
traveler  and  evangelist;  J.  A.  Ressler,  superintend- 
ent of  the  India  Mission;  Noah  E.  Byers,  president 
of  Goshen  College;  D.  H.  Bender,  associate  editor  of 
the  Gospel  Herald  and  the  first  principal  of  the  Hess- 
ton  Mennonite  school ;  A.  H.  Leaman,  superintendent 
of  the  Chicago  Mission;  J.  S.  Hartzler,  I.  R.  Det- 
weiler,  J.  E.  Hartzler,  S.  F.  Coffman,  Aaron  Loucks^ 
L.  J.  Heatvvole,  John  Blosser,  Noah  Mack,  George 
Lambert  and  others  whom  space  does  not  permit  to 
mention. 

The   General   Conference   Mennonites   rank   next 
with  a  constituency  of  about  twelve  thousand.     In 
addition    to   the    general    confer- 
General  Conference       ence     which     meets     triennially^ 
of  Mennonites  there     are     five     district     confer- 

ences—  (1)  the  Eastern,  com- 
posed of  the  congregations  of  eastern  Pennsylvania, 
principally  in  Montgomery,  Bucks  and  Berks  counties ; 

(2)  the  Middle  district,  composed  of  the  scattered 
congregations  in  Ohio,  Indiana,  Iowa  and  Missouri; 

(3)  the  Western,  which  is  made  up  largely  of  the 
churches  in  Kansas  but  also  embraces  several  in  Ne- 
braska and  Oklahoma;  (4)  the  Northern,  comprising 
several  congregations  in  Minnesota  and  the  Dakotas; 
and     (5)     the    Pacific   conference. 


THE  PRESENT  449 

The  Mennonite  Book  Concern,  located  at  Berne, 
Indiana,  is  the  official  publishing  house,  and  the  Bun- 
desbote  and  the  Mennonite,  the  leading  papers  of  the 
church.      The   Western    conference    supports    Bethel 
College,  at  Newton,  Kansas;    the  Middle  conference 
has    established    the    Central    Mennonite    College    at 
Bluffton,  Ohio;   while  the  Eastern  conference  is  rep- 
resented on  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Perkiomen  Sem- 
inary, a  Schwenkfelder  school,  and  sends  many  of  its 
young  men  to  that  institution.     Small  local  schools 
are  also  conducted  among  the  Russian  Mennonites  in 
various   localities.       Mission    stations   are    supported 
among  the   Arrapahoe   Indians   in   Indian   Territory, 
and  in  Central  Province,  India.    Among  the  men  still 
living  who  are  doing  most  to  enhance  the  interests  of 
the  church  are  Christian  Krehbiel,  pastor  of  the  con- 
gregation  at   Halstead,    Kansas;    C.    H.   Wedel   and 
David  Goerz,  of  Bethel  College;    C.  H.  A.  van  der 
Smissen,   of   Summerfield,   Illinois;    H.   P.   Krehbiel, 
historian;   N.  B.  Grubb,  preacher  and  writer  of  Phila- 
delphia;   I.   A.    Sommer,   editor,   and   J.   J.    Kliewer, 
pastor,  both  of  Berne,  Indiana ;  J.  B.  Baer,  evangelist, 
of  Blufifton,  Ohio;  and  A.  S.  Shelley,  of  Pennsylvania. 

The  Mennonite  Brethren  in  Christ  have  a  mem- 
bership of  about  six  thousand  or  more  and  are  divided 
into  five  conference  districts, — Canada, 
Mennonite  Michigan, ,  Pennsylvania,  Indiana-Ohio 
Brethren  and  Western.  The  official  organ  of  the 
in  Christ  church  is  the  Gospel  Banner,  which  was 
formerly  published  in  Berlin,  Ontario,  but 
since  1908  it  is  published  by  the  Union  Gospel  Printing 
Company,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  under  the  editorship 
of   C.   H.   Brunner.     This   church   is   imbued  with   a 


450  MENNONITES    OF   AMERICA 

strong  missionary  spirit  and  supports  stations  in  the 
Soudan,  Chili,  and  Turkey. 

The  remaining  branches  of  the  Mennonite  divi- 
sion of  the  church  with  several  exceptions  are  too- 
small  to  have  separate  publishing  plants  or  mission 
stations  and  either  read  such  religious  papers  as  may 
suit  their  individual  fancies,  or  such  as  are  printed 
by  the  larger  branches  of  the  denomination. 

Among  the  Amish  the  largest  branch  is  the 
Amish-Mennonite,  with  a  membership  of  a  little  over 
eight  thousand.  It  comprises  three  confer- 
Amish  ence  districts — (1)  the  Eastern,  composed 
of  the  congregations  in  Pennsylvania,  Ohio 
and  Ontario;  (2)  Indiana;  and  (3)  the  Western 
district,  which  comprises  the  churches  in  all  the  states 
west  of  Indiana.  The  Amish-Mennonites  have  no 
church  institutions  of  their  own,  but  are  officially  rep- 
resented on  all  the  boards  of  the  institutions  of  the 
Old  Mennonites.  These  two  churches  are  practically 
one  in  spirit,  doctrine  and  religious  practice,  and  act 
together  in  all  church  enterprises.  Among  the  men 
who  have  recently  done  most  to  promote  the  interests 
of  the  body  at  large  are  Bishop  Benjamin  Gerig,  and 
C.  Z.  Yoder  of  Wayne  county,  Ohio;  D.  D.  Miller, 
evangelist  and  assistant  editor  of  the  Gospel  Herald, 
and  Bishop  D.  J.  Johns  of  Indiana;  S.  H.  Miller  of 
Holmes  county,  Ohio;  Bishop  John  Smith^  of  Illinois 
and  Samuel  Gerber  of  the  same  state;  Levi  Miller  of 
Missouri;  Bishop  Sebastian  Gerig  of  Iowa,  and  Bishop 
Joseph  Schlegel  of  Nebraska. 

The   Old   Order   Amish   with   a   membership   of 


1.     Deceased,    1906. 


THE  PRESENT  4^1 

about   four   thousand   five   hundred   have   no   confer- 
ences, nor  church  institutions,  but  gene- 
Old  Order      rally   support   the   missionary   enterprises 
of  the  Old  Mennonites  and  Amish-Men- 
nonites,  and  read  the  literature  published  by  them. 

The  Conservative  Amish  number  a  little  over  six- 
teen hundred  in  the  United  States  and  Canada.  They 
differ  little  from  the  Old  Order  except  that  they  wor- 
ship in  meeting  houses  and  are  less  given  to  maintain- 
ing the  old  customs.  They  have  no  conferences. 
Each  congregation  is  independent  of  all  others. 

The    Illinois    Conference    of   Mennonites    is    the 
name   by  which   the   so-called   "Stuckey"  Amish   are 
known.     The  church  is  a  branch 
Illinois  Conference      of  the  Amish  division,  but  it  has 
of  Mennonites  assumed  the  simple  name  of  Men- 

nonite.  It  numbers  about  fifteen 
hundred  members,  principally  in  Illinois,  but  there 
are  a  few  scattered  congregations  in  Iowa  and  Ne- 
braska. It  maintains  no  separate  church  institutions, 
but  supports  the  educational  and  missionary  enter- 
prises of  the  Old  Mennonites  and  reads  the  literature 
of  both  publishing  houses.  The  conference  has  no 
power  to  issue  decrees  that  are  binding  on  the  con- 
gregations which  compose  it.  It  is  merely  an  ad- 
visory body. 

The  Defenseless  Mennonites,  sometimes  called 
^'Egli"  Amish,  are  likewise  a  branch  of  the  Amish 
church.  They  have  a  membership  of 
Defenseless  about  one  thousand  principally  in  Illi- 
Mennonites  nois,  Indiana  and  Ohio.  C.  R.  Egli,  one 
of  the  leading  spirits,  publishes  at  Grid- 
ley,  Illinois.,  a  paper  in  behalf  of  the  church,  called 


452  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

Heilsbote.  The  church  also  supports  an  orphans* 
home  near  Flanagan,  Illinois,  and  several  mission- 
aries in  Africa.  It  is  also  beginning  to  support  many 
of  the  enterprises  of  the  Old  Mennonites  and  the 
Amish.  The  bond  of  sympathy  between  this  branch  of 
the  denomination  and  the  Amish  and  other  divisions 
is  growing. 

These  are  the  various  divisions  into  which  the 
Mennonite  denomination  is  broken  up.  In  addition 
to  these  there  are  still  a  number  of  independent  con- 
gregations, especially  among  the  immigrants  from 
Russia  in  Manitoba  and  some  of  the  Northern  states 
which  cannot  be  classified  except  according  to  their 
geographical    location. 

As  to  the  number  of  Mennonites  at  present  in 
America,  accurate  statistics  are  not  at  hand.  The 
report  of  the  United  States  census  while  not  far  out. 
of  the  way,  yet  is  not  altogether  accurate.  The  sta- 
tistics for  the  Old  Mennonites,  Amish  Mennonites 
and  several  others  published  in  the  Mennonite  Year 
Book  and  Directory  is  fairly  reliable.  The  official 
statistician  of  the  General  Conference  Mennonites  is 
H.  P,  Krehbiel.  The  following  table  compiled  from 
several  sources  is  meant  to  be  only  an  approximate 
estimate,  in  round  numbers,  but  it  is  not  far  from 
correct : 

I.     Old  Mennonites. 

1.  Franconia 3,500 

2.  Lancaster 8,000 

3.  Washington  and  Franklin  counties  800 

4.  Virginia 1,150 

5.  Southwestern  Pennsylvania  .    .    .  1,300 

6.  Ohio 1,300 


THE  PRESENT  453 

7.  Indiana-Michigan 1,250 

8.  Kansas-Nebraska 800 

9.  Illinois 370 

10.  Iowa-Missouri 565 

11.  Pacific  coast 150 

12.  Nebraska-Minnesota 450 

13.  Minnesota  (independent)   ....  500 

14.  Alberta-Saskatchewan 150 

15.  Ontario 1,500 

II.  General  Conference  Mennonites  .   .   .     12,000 

III.  Mennonite  Brethren  in  Christ  .    .    .       6,000 

IV.  Wisler  Mennonites 1,900 

V.  Reformed  Mennonites 1,700 

VI.  Brueder  Gemeinde 700 

VII.  Church  of  God  in  Christ  (Holdeman)  600 

VIII.  Mennonites  in  Manitoba  (Russian)       8000 

IX.  Amish  Mennonite 

1.  Eastern  district  ...........  3,800 

2.  Indiana-Michigan 1,150 

3.  Western  district 3,150 

X.  Amish-Mennonite  (conservative)    .    .  1,650 

XI.  Old  Order  Amish 4,500 

XII.  Defenseless  Mennonites 1,000 

XIII.  Illinois  Conference  of  Mennonites       1,500 

Total 68,435 

In  round  numbers  then  the  membership  of  the 
entire  denomination  in  Canada  and  the  United  States 

counts  up  about  70,000.  This  includes 
Total  Number       only  those  who  are  actual   members 

of  the  church.  Since  Mennonite  fam- 
ilies are  on  the  average  large,  it  may  be  safe  to  esti- 


454  MENNONITES    OF   AMERICA 

mate  the  entire  Mennonite  population  in  America  at 
about  double  the  above  number  or  about  150,000. 

The  Mennonites  of  all  classes  are  still  almost  en- 
tirely  a   rural   people.     Very   few   congregations   are 

found  in  the  cities.  Among  the  few  excep- 
A  Rural  tions  are  the  churches  in  Philadelphia,  Lan- 
People  caster,  Pennsylvania;  iElkhart,  Goshen  and 

Berne,  Indiana;  Newton,  Kansas,  and  sev- 
eral missions  in  the  larger  cities.  There  is  a  tendency, 
however,  at  present  among  the  Mennonites  as  among 
all  people,  toward  the  towns  and  cities. 

The  different  branches  of  the  denomination  have 
little  religious  intercourse  with  one  another.  As  has 
already  been  indicated,  the  differences  between  them 
lies  not  in  fundamental  articles  of  faith,  but  in  minor 
customs  and  practices,  in  several  cases  largely  in 
customs  of  dress.  There  are,  however,  several  centers 
from  which  radiate  influences  which  are  making  for 
unification.  As  already  seen  the  General  Conference 
Mennonites  aim  at  a  final  union  of  all  branches,  but 
they  have  not  as  yet  made  much  headway  except 
among  scattered  independent  liberal  congregations  and 
among  the  more  recent  European  immigrants.  The 
Old  Mennonites  and  Amish-Mennonites  are  practi- 
cally one  working  body  now,  and  have  established  a 
general  conference  in  which  these  churches  are  repre- 
sented. The  Franconia  and  Lancaster  conferences, 
however,  do  not  as  yet  recognize  the  movement,  and 
thus  the  influence  of  this  conference  is  limited  to  the 
western  congregations.  The  Defenseless  Mennonites 
are  also  beginning  to  work  in  harmony  with  these  two 
■main  branches  of  the  denomination.  But  the  time 
when  all  branches  will  unite  again  into  one  ecclesiast- 


THE  PRESENT  455 

ical  body  lies  some  distance  in  the  future. 

The  Mennonite  denomination  is  passing  through 
a  critical  period  of  its  history.  The  two  questions  of 
most  vital  importance  to  the  future  of 
Critical  Period  the  church  are  its  relation  to  the  uni- 
fication movement,  and  to  the  ques- 
tion of  a  more  liberal  education  for  its  young  people. 
The  denomination  will  never  take  the  position  which 
rightly  belongs  to  it  in  the  religious  world  until  it 
passes  favorably  upon  both  of  these  questions. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


Source  material,  either  in  print  or  manuscript,  for 
the  study  of  Mennonite  history  is  meager.  The  Men- 
nonites  kept  no  church  records  and  very  often  no 
family  records.  Hence  our  knowledge  about  them 
must  be  gleaned  very  largely  from  what  their  contem- 
poraries incidentally  said  about  them,  from  scattered 
letters  here  and  there  preserved  either  in  family  Bibles 
or  some  of  the  European  church  archives,  or  from 
such  records  as  were  kept  by  the  civil  authorities,  of 
land  entries,  and  Menmonite  petitions  from  time  to 
time  for  naturalization  or  for  exemption  from  the 
oath  and  military  service.  The  fact,  however,  that  the 
Mennonites  were  pioneers  both  in  Germantown  and 
in  Lancaster  county  makes  it  possible  for  us  to  know 
more  about  the  early  life  of  the  first  immigrants  than 
would  otherwise  have  been  possible.  They  were  in 
the  very  front  of  the  great  wave  of  German  immigra- 
tion which  poured  into  Pennsylvania  during  the  first 
half  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  for  this  reason  they 
have  been  given  some  general  consideration  by  the 
students  of  the  early  Germans  in  America. 

By  far  the  most  exhaustive  and  thorough  work 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  457 

done  upon  the  subject  of  Pennsylvania  Germans  is 
that  done  by  the  Pennsylvania  German  Historical  So- 
ciety, the  annual  reports  of  which  now  cover  seven- 
teen large  volumes  (1891-1908).  Separate  volumes  have 
been  devoted  to  the  Lutherans,  Reformed,  Schwenk- 
felders,  Moravians,  and  Dunkards,  but  so  far  no  com- 
plete treatise  on  the  Mennonites  has  appeared.  Many 
of  the  histories  of  these  separate  churches  necessarily 
contain  references  to  Mennonites  which  are  of  con- 
siderable value  to  the  Mennonite  historian,  while  vol- 
ume nine  is  devoted  almost  entirely  to  biographical 
and  historical  sketches  by  Samuel  W.  Pennypacker, 
pertaining  to  the  early  history  of  the  Germantown 
Mennonites.  The  chapter  on  the  founding  of  German- 
town  has  been  written  from  information  which  Mr. 
Pennypacker  has  been  gathering  for  years,  and  so  far 
as  it  goes  is  perhaps  the  final  word  on  the  subject. 
Other  works  by  Pennypacker,  based  largely  on  original 
sources  and  family  history  are  "Hendrick  Penne- 
becker,"  and  "Annals  of  Phoenixville,"  both  of  which 
contain  much  of  Mennonite  family  history. 

Professor  O.  Seidensticker's  "Bilder  aus  der 
Deutsch-Pennsylvanischen  Geschichte"  (1886)  con- 
tains several  chapters  on  the  Germantown  Mennonites 
which  have  hardly  been  excelled  by  Pennypacker. 
Two  earlier  sources  for  this  subject  which,  however, 
need  to  be  read  critically  and  in  some  details  discarded 
entirely,  are  the  notices  in  Watson's  Annals  (1843), 
and  in  Hazard's  Register  (1828)  and  (1831).  Volume 
XIV  (1906)  of  the  Pennsylvania  German  Society  pub- 
lications contains  a  chapter  on  Germantown  which 
includes  several  letters  and  other  matters  of  interest 
on  the  Germantown  Mennonites.     Morgan  Edward's 


458  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

""Material  for  a  History  of  the  American  Baptists" 
(1770)  contains  a  brief  sketch  of  the  Mennonites  at  the 
time  and  also  gives  a  brief  historical  review  of  the  Ger- 
mantown  church.  The  letterbook  of  James  Claypool 
the  original  of  which  is  in  the  library  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania Historical  Society,  and  extracts  from  which 
appear  in  the  Pennsylvania  Magazine  of  History,  Vol. 
X,  gives  a  brief  account  of  the  sailing  of  the  Concord 
in  1683.  The  Streiper  papers  in  the  library  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Historical  Society  include  a  number  of 
letters  written  by  members  of  the  Streiper  family  in 
Cermantowti  to  relatives  in  the  Netherlands.  The 
Pennsylvania  Magazine  of  History,  Vols.  IV  and  V, 
contain  several  helpful  sketches.  Also  suggestive  are 
many  of  the  family  histories  of  the  early  Germantown 
families,  including  those  of  Konders,  Shoemaker,  Kas- 
sel,  Keyser,  Sauer  and  others.  On  the  relation  of  the 
Quakers  and  Mennonites  in  Europe  we  must  rely  for 
our  information  on  the  journals  of  the  Quaker  mis- 
sionaries themselves,  including  Fox's  Journal,  Sewell's 
"History  of  the  Quakers,"  Story's  Journal  and  Chalk- 
ley's  Journal.  The  best  general  treatise  on  the  subject 
is  found  in  several  chapters  of  Barclay's  "The  Inner 
Life  of  the  Religious  Societies  of  the  Commonwealth," 
(London,  1876).  The  Pennsylvania  Magazine  of  His- 
tory, Vol.  II,  contains  an  article  by  Professor  Seiden- 
sticker  on  "Penn's  Travels  in  Germany  and  Holland  in 
1677."  For  the  facts  regarding  the  relation  of  the  two 
■denominations  in  Germantown  we  must  rely  largely  on 
family  histories  and  traditions,  and  on  the  records  of 
the  Abington  Monthly  Meeting,  from  which  we  can 
learn  something  of  the  religious  activities  of  such  of  the 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  459^ 

early  settlers  as  affiliated  themselves  with  the  Quakers 
in  their  religious  work. 

On  the  early  settlement  of  Lancaster  county^ 
Rupp's  "History  of  Lancaster  County"  (1844)  is  per- 
haps still  the  best  authority.  Alexander  Harris's 
"Biographical  History  of  Lancaster  County"  contains  a. 
great  deal  of  biographical  material,  on  the  whole  fairly 
reliable,  of  the  early  Mennonite  families.  The  latest  his- 
tory of  the  county,  by  Ellis  and  Evans,  has  several  ar- 
ticles on  the  Mennonites.  The  one  written  by  E.K.Mar- 
tin on  the  general  field  of  Mennonite  history  is  perhaps 
the  best  short  treatise  in  English.  The  other  is  a  short 
sketch  of  the  early  churches  and  ministers  in  the 
county  written  by  Bishop  J.  N.  Brubacher.  All  of 
these  county  histories  contain  much  valuable  informa- 
tion, but  need  to  be  critically  examined,  and  the  facts 
often  need  to  be  modified  from  other  sources  of  in- 
formation. De  Hoop  ScheflFer's  "Mennonite  Emigra- 
tion to  Pennsylvania,"  translated  from  the  Dutch  by 
S.  W.  Pennypacker  in  the  Pennsylvania  Magazine, 
Vol.  n,  contains  many  facts  on  the  European  phase 
of  the  emigration  to  Lancaster  county.  Ernst  Miiller's 
"Geschichte  der  Bernischen  Taufer"  is  also  valuable 
for  a  comparison  of  European  with  Lancaster  names. 
Pennsylvania  Archives,  Second  series.  Vol.  XIX,  con- 
tains many  references  to  land  entries  made  by  early 
Mennonite  immigrants.  Of  equal  value  are  the  re- 
cords catalogued  "'Old  Rights,  Lancaster  County"  in 
the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  at  Harris- 
burg,  Occasional  notes  can  be  found  in  Watson  and 
Hazard,  as  well  as  in  the  various  volumes  of  Penn- 
sylvania Archives,  and  "Votes  and  Proceedings  of  the 
Assembly."     For  genealogical  purposes  much  infor- 


460  MENNONITES    OF   AMERICA 

mation  can  be  gained  from  Egle's  "Notes  and  Queries," 
and  from  Rupp's  "Thirty  Thousand  Names,"  which 
contains  a  list  of  all  the  immigrants  landed  at  Phila- 
delphia from  1727  to  1776. 

On  the  subject  of  the  State  and  the  Mennonites 
nothing  has  been  written.  The  only  sources  of  infor- 
mation are  the  occasional  references  to  Mennonites 
found  in  the  Pennsylvania  Archives,  Votes  and  Pro- 
ceedings of  the  Assembly  (Pa.),  Journal  of  Burgesses 
(Va.),  Constitutions  and  Statutes  of  Virginia,  Mary- 
land, and  Pennsylvania,  Colonial  Records  (Pa.),  Con- 
gressional Globe  and  Journal  of  the  Confederate  Con- 
gress. On  the  Germantown  experiment  of  self  govern- 
ment the  chief  source  of  information  is  the  original 
record  book  of  the  Court  of  Record,  at  present  in  the 
possession  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  Historical  So- 
ciety. 

On  the  subject  of  Anabaptists  a  large  number  of 
books  have  been  written  in  the  German  language. 
Among  the  older  works  are  Heinrich  Bullinger's  "Der 
Widertoufferen  Ursprung,  Fiirgang,  Sekten,"  etc. 
(1561);  Sebastian  Franck's  "Chronika"  (1578);  and 
J.  C.  Fuesslin's  "Beitrage  zur  Kirchengeschichte  des 
Schweitzerlands"  (1741).  Among  modern  treatises 
are  Ludwig  Keller's  "Wiedertaufer"  (1880),  "Die  Re- 
formation" (1885),  and  "Hans  Denck"  (1882);  Emil 
Egli's  "Aktensammlung  zur  Geschichte  der  Ziircher 
Reformation"  (1879)  ;  and  C.  A.  Cornelius'  "Geschichte 
des  Miinsterschen  Aufruhrs"  (1855).  In  English  not 
much  has  been  written  on  the  subject.  Among  the 
books  that  have  appeared  are  Richard  Heath's  "Ana- 
baptism — From  its  Rise  at  Zwickau  to  its  Fall  at 
Miinster"  (1905)  ;  and  Belfort  Bax's  "Rise  and  Fall  of 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  461 

the  Anabaptists";  A.  H.  Newman's  "A  History  of 
Antipedobaptism"  contains  an  excellent  bibliography 
on  the  subject. 

On  later  American  Mennonite  history,  printed 
and  manuscript  sources  are  also  very  meager.  The 
historian  must  depend  for  his  information  largely  on 
family  histories,  county  and  other  local  histories  writ- 
ten during  the  past  twenty-five  years  from  information 
which  is  not  always  reliable.  Two  general  histories 
of  the  Mennonites  of  America  have  been  written,  one 
by  D.  K.  Cassel,  and  the  other  by  Hartzler  and  Kauff- 
man.  Neither  of  these,  however,  are  trustworthy  ex- 
cept for  such  history  as  has  been  made  during  the 
present  generation. 

The  best  collection  of  Mennonite  literature,  which 
is  largely  polemical,  however,  and  of  little  value  to  the 
historian,  is  to  be  found  in  the  private  library  of  John 
F.  Funk,  of  Elkhart,  Indiana.  The  Pennsylvania  State 
Historical  Society  also  has  a  number  of  books  and 
pamphlets  writen  by  Mennonite  authors  in  its  library 
in  Philadelphia. 

For  the  history  of  the  church  since  1865  the  files. 
of  the  Herald  of  Truth,  of  Elkhart,  Indiana,  furnish 
the  most  helpful  source  of  information. 

Many  of  these  American  sources  mentioned  in 
this  brief  sketch  need  to  be  accepted  with  extreme 
caution.  To  all  this  the  student  of  Mennonite  history 
needs  to  add  such  information  as  he  has  gained  from 
personal  observation  in  the  localities  named,  special 
investigation  into  family  histories,  deed  books  and  land 
surveys;  and  especially  does  he  need  to  draw  upon 
his  personal  knowledge  of  the  manners,  customs,, 
habits,  traditions,  and  characteristic  names  of  the  Men- 


462  MENNONITES   OF   AMERICA 

nonite  people.  All  of  these  will  often  help  him  to 
settle  points  of  fact  which  otherwise  would  remain 
subjects  of  doubt  in  his  mind. 

The  following  list  practically  exhausts  the  ma- 
terials, secondary  and  original,  on  the  American  Men- 
nonites  and  includes  some  of  the  most  important  works 
on  the  German  and  Swiss  Anabaptists. 

Asher,  G.  M.  Historical  Essay  on  Dutch  Books  and 
Pamphlets  Relating  to  New  Netherlands. 

American  Historical  Review.     Vol.  IX. 

American  Archives,  Fourth  Series.     Vol.  VI. 

Acts  of  the  General  Assembly  of  Virginia,  1861-2, 
Richmond,  1862. 

Abington  Records  of  Monthly  Meetings  of  1682-1746. 
Original  records  are  in  Friends  Meeting  House 
at  Ogontz,  Pa.  A  typewritten  copy  has  been 
made  for  the  Pennsylvania  State  Historical  So- 
ciety library  in  Philadelphia. 

Augusta  County   (Va.)   Records.     From  1745  on. 

Albert,  G.  D.  History  of  Westmoreland  County, 
Philadelphia,  1882. 

Ausbund;  das  ist  etliche  schoene  Lieder,  wie  Sie  im 
Gefangniss  zu  Passau  in  dem  Schloss  von  den 
Schweitzer  Briidern  und  andern  recht  glaubigen 
Christen  gedichtet  worden.     Elkhart,  Ind.,  1905. 

Barclay,  Robert.  The  Inner  Life  of  the  Religious 
Societies  of  the  Commonwealth.     London,  1876, 

Bean,  T.  W.  History  of  Montgomery  County.  Phila- 
delphia, 1884.     The  best  history  of  the  county. 

Barton,  William.  Memoirs  of  the  Life  of  David  Rit- 
tenhouse,  L.  L.  D.,  F.  R.  S.    Philadelphia,  1813. 

Burkholder,  Peter.  Eine  Verhandlung  von  der  auszer- 
lichen  Wassertaufe  und  Erklarung  einiger  Irr- 
thiimer.  Harrisonburg,  Va.,  1816.  A  copy  of  this 
pamphlet  can  be  found  in  the  private  library  of 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  463 

Dr.  John  W.  Wayland,  of  the  University  of  Vir- 
ginia. 

Mennonite  Confession  of  Faith,  with  nine 


reflections.     Translated  from  the  German  by  Jo- 
seph Funk.     Winchester,  Va.,  1837. 

Boehm,  Henry.  Reminiscences  of  Rev.  Henry  Boehm. 
New  York,   1875. 

Brumbaugh,  Martin  G.  A.  History  of  the  German 
Baptist  Brethren  in  Europe  and  America.  Mount 
Morris,   111.,   1899. 

The  Life  and  Works  of  Christopher  Dock. 

Philadelphia,   1908. 

Brubacher,  J.  N.  Brubaker  Genealogy.  Elkhart,  Ind.^ 
1884. 

Bower,  H.  S.  A  Genealogical  Record  of  the  Descend- 
ants of  Daniel  StaufTer  and  Hans  Bauer.  Harleys- 
ville,  Pa.,  1897. 

Balch,  Thomas.  Letters  and  Papers  relating  chiefly 
to  the  Provincial  History  of  Pennsylvania.  Phila- 
delphia,   1855. 

Brons,  Anna.  Ursprung,  Entwickelung  und  Schick- 
sale  der  Altevangelischen  Taufgesinnten  oder 
Mennoniten,     Norden,  1891. 

Brodhead,  John  R.  History  of  New  York,  Harper 
Bros.,  1853-1871.    2  Vol. 

Borntreger,  John  E.  Eine  Geschichte  der  ersten 
Ansiedlung  der  Amischen  Mennoniten  und  die 
Griindung  ihrer  ersten  Gemeinde  im  Staate  Indi- 
ana.    Elkhart,  Ind.,  1907. 

Bell,  H.  C.  History  of  Leitersburg  District.  Leiters- 
burg,  Md.,  1898. 

Bartlaw,  B.  S.  Centennial  History  of  Butler  County,. 
Ohio,  1905. 

BuHinger,  Heinrich.  Der  Widertoufiferen  Ursprung,. 
Fiirgang,  Sekten,  etc.    Zurich,  1561. 

Bax,  Belfort.  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Anabaptists.  Lon- 
don, 1903. 


464  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

Beck,  J.  Die  Geschichtsbucher  der  Wiedertaufer  in 
Oesterreich-Ungarn.      1883. 

Butler  County,  Ohio,  History  of.  Western  Pub.  Co.^ 
1882. 

Cassel,  D.  K.  Geschichte  der  Mennoniten.  Philadel- 
phia, 1890.  This  book  consists  largely  of  a  com- 
pilation of  sketches  written  by  Pennypacker  for 
other  works,  from  various  county  histories,  and 
several  original  articles  on  individual  congrega- 
tions. The  work  is  not  well  arranged,  is  decidedly 
uncritical  and  fails  to  give  proper  credit  for  copied 
articles. 

The  Kulp  Family.     Norristown,  Pa.,  1895. 

The  Cassel  Family.    Norristown,  Pa.,  1896. 

Chronicon  Ephratense.  Lancaster,  Pa.,  1889.  This  is 
a  history  of  the  community  of  Seventh  Day  Bap- 
tists at  Ephrata.  It  is  translated  by  J.  Max 
Mark,  D.  D. 

Bachman,  Richard.    Kiclas  Storch,  1880. 

Colonial  Records  of  Pennsylvania. 

Cartland,  F.  C.    Southern  Heroes.    Boston,  1895. 

Congressional  Globe,  38  Congress,  Second  session,. 
Part  I. 

Conrad,  Henrv  C.  Thones  Kunders  and  his  Children, 
Wilmington,   Del.,   1891. 

Chalkley,  Thomas.     Journal.     Philadelphia,  1866. 

Confession  of  Faith,  Philadelphia,  1727.  Printed  by 
A.  Bradford.  Contains  the  names  of  the  Men- 
nonite  ministers  then  living  in  Pennsylvania. 

Claypool.  Letter  Book.  Original  in  the  library  of 
the   Pennsylvania   State   Historical   Society. 

Cox,  W.  W.  History  of  Seward  County,  Nebraska. 
Lincoln,  Neb.,  1888. 

Campbell,  Douglas.  Puritans  in  England,  Netherlands 
and  America.     1892. 

Christianity  Defined.     A  Manual  of  the  New  Testa- 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  465 

ment  Teaching.  Hagerstown,  Md.,  1903.  A  doc- 
trinal work  published  by  the  Reformed  Mennon- 
ites. 

Cornelius,  C.  A.  Geschichte  des  Munsterschen  Auf- 
ruhrs.     1855. 

Day,  Sherman.  Historical  Collections  of  the  State  of 
Pennsylvania.     Philadelphia,   1843. 

Davis,  W.  H.  H.  History  of  Bucks  County.  Doyles- 
town,  Pa.,  1876.  The  best  history  of  the  county. 
Contains  many  local  sketches  on  the  Mennonites 
in  the  county. 

Diffenderfer,  F.  R.  The  German  Exodus  to  England 
in  1709.  Lancaster,  1897.  Published  in  Proceed- 
ings of  Pennsylvania  German  Society,  Vol.  VH. 

The  Three   Earls:    An   Historical   Sketch. 

New  Holland,  Pa.,  1876.  A  brief  account  of  the 
settlement  in  Graffdale,  Lancaster  county,  of 
Hans   Graff  in    1717. 

Odds  and   Ends  of  Local   History.     Pub- 


lished in  Proceedings  of  Lancaster  County  His- 
torical Society,  Vol.  X.     No.  6.     Lancaster,  1906. 

Dock,  Christopher.  Eine  Einfaltige  und  griindliche 
abgefaszte  Schulordnung.     Germantown,  1770, 

DiekhofT,  A.  W.  Die  Waldenser  im  Mittelalter. 
Gottingen,  1851. 

Dollinger,  J.  v.  Beitriige  zur  Sekten  Geschichte  des 
Mittelalters.    Munich,  1890. 

Dexter,  H.  M.    The  True  Story  of  John  Smythe.    1881. 

Egle,  W.  H.  Notes  and  Queries,  Historical  and  Gene- 
alogical.    Harrisburg.     From  1879  on. 

Edwards,  Morgan.  Alaterial  for  a  History  of  the 
American  Baptists.  Philadelphia,  1770.  Very 
rare.  A  copy  in  the  library  of  the  Pennsylvania 
State  Historical  Society. 

Ellis  and  Evans.  History  of  Lancaster  County.  Phil- 
adelphia, 1883.    Contains  article  by  E.  K.  Martin, 


466  MENNONITES    OF   AMERICA 

on  Mennonites  and  other  material  of  value.     But 
few  of  the  articles  are  altogether  reliable. 
Egli,  Emil.    Die  Zurcher  Wiedertaufer.    Zurich,  1878. 

Akten     Sammlung     zur     Geschichte     der 

Zurcher  Reformation.     Zurich,  1879.    2  Vol. 

Die  St.  Galler  Taufer. 


Eckhoff,  A.  In  der  neuen  Heimath.  New  York,  1885. 
Eby,   A.     Die  Ansiedlung  und   Begrunding  der   Ge- 

meinschaft  in  Canada.  Milford  Square,  Pa.,  1872. 
Eby,  Ezra  E.     A  Biographical  History  of  Waterloo 

(Ont.)  Township.     Berlin,  Ont.,  1895.    A  detailed 

account  of  the  earliest  Mennonite  settlements  in 

Canada. 

The  Eby  Family.     Berlin,  Ont.,  1899. 

Eby,  Benjamin.    Kurtzgefaszte  Kirchengeschichte  der 

Taufgesinnten  oder  Mennonisten.     Elkhart,  Ind.^ 

1868. 
Erbkam,    H  .  W.      Geschichte    der    Protestantischen 

Sekten.     1848. 
Ellis,  Franklin.    History  of  Fayette  County,  Pa.    1882. 
Fox,  George.    Journal. 
Fretz,  A.  J.    Wismer  Family  History.     Elkhart,  Ind., 

1893. 

Funk  Family  History,  Elkhart,  Ind. 

Foote,   W.   H.     Sketches  of  Virginia.     Philadelphia, 

1850. 

Family  Almanac.  Mennonite  Publishing  Company, 
Elkhart,  Ind.  1870-.  Contains  many  short  bio- 
graphical sketches  of  early  Mennonites. 

Frederick  County   (Va.)   Records.     From  1743  on. 

Funk,  John  F.  The  Mennonite  Church  and  her  Ac- 
cusers.    Elkhart,  Ind.,  1878. 

Futhey  and  Cope.  History  of  Chester  County,  Penn- 
sylvania, 1881. 

Ferris,  Benjamin.  Original  Settlements  on  the  Dela- 
ware. 

Franck,  Sebastian.     Chronika.     1578. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  467 

Peestgave  op  Menno  Simons  (1892).  Amsterdam, 
1892. 

Funck,  Heinrich.  Eine  Spiegel  der  Taufe,  mit  Geist, 
mit  Wasser,  und  mit  Blut.     Germantown,   1744. 

Funk,  Christian.  Ein  Auffsatz  oder  Vertheidigung 
von  Christian  Funk  gegen  seine  mit-Diener  der 
Mennoniten  Gemeindschaft.     Germantown,   1785. 

A  Mirror  for  all  Mankind.     Germantown. 

1809. 

Fernow,  — .  — .  Documents  Relating  to  the  History 
of  New  York. 

Fuesslin,  J.  C.  Beitrage  zur  Kirchengeschichte  des 
Schweitzerlandes.     Zurich,   1741. 

Grubb,  N.  S.  The  Mennonite  Church  of  Germantown. 
Philadelphia,  1906. 

Gibbons,  Phoebe  Earle.  Pennsylvania  Dutch,  and 
Other  Essays.  Philadelphia,  1784.  Largely  de- 
scriptive, but  one  of  the  earliest  books  on  the 
subject. 

Orowell,  A.    American  Book  Clubs. 

Gnagey,  Elias.  The  Gnaegi  Family.  Elkhart,  Ind.. 
1897. 

Glaubensbekenntnisz  der  neuen  Deutchen  Baptisten 
in  den  Vereinigten  Staaten.     Elkhart,  Ind.,  1877. 

Gibson,  John.  History  of  York  County.  Chicago, 
1886.     The  best  history  of  the  county. 

Germantown  Rath-buch,  1691  to  1706.  The  original 
is  in  the  library  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  His- 
torical  Society. 

Griffis,  W.  E.  Influence  of  the  Netherlands  upon 
England  and  America. 

Brave    Little   Holland. 

Hallesche  Nachrichten.  A  translation.  Philadelphia. 
1881. 

Heckler,  James  Y.  History  of  Lower  Salford  Town- 
ship.    Harleysville,  Pa.,  1886. 


468  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

Herald   of   Truth.        Chicago   and    Elkhart,    Indiana. 
From  1864  to  1908. 

Hening,  W.  W.     Statutes  at  Large  (Va.),  1619-1822. 
13  volumes. 

Hazard,  Samuel.    The  Register  of  Pennsylvania.    Phil- 
adelphia, 1828-1832.     Volumes  I  and  VII  contain 
many  notices   on   early  Mennonites.     These   are 
not  reliable.      The  article  in  Vol.  I  on  the  Amish 
13  altogether  untrustworthy  as  to  dates  and  most 
of  the  facts. 
Hartzler,  J.  S.  and  Kauffman,  D.     Mennonite  Church 
History.     Scottdale,  Pa.,  1905.     Contains  a  great 
deal  of  valuable  material  never  printed  before  on 
the  last  fifty  years  of  the  history  of  the  church, 
but  not  reliable  on  the  earlier  events. 
Hartzler,   Sr.,   John.     Hertzler   Genealogy.     Elkhart, 

Ind.,  1885. 
Holcomb,  W.  P.     Germantown,  its  Origin  and  Form 
of  Government.    Johns  Hopkins  Studies,  Vol.  IV. 
Hess,  John  H.    Genealogy  of  the  Hess  Family.    Lititz, 

Pa.,  1896. 
Harris,  Alexander.    Biographical  History  of  Lancaster 

County.    Lancaster,  Pa.,  1872. 
Holdeman,   John.      History   of   the    Church   of    God. 
Lancaster,   1876. 

Ein     Spiegel     der    Wahrheit.       Lancaster, 

1878. 
Hunsicker,   Abraham.     Das   Religions,    Kirchen   und 
Schulwesen   der   Mennoniten.       Milford    Square, 
Pa.,  1862. 
Henry  and   Fulton   Counties,  Ohio,   History  of.     D. 

Mason  &  Co.,  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  1888. 
Herr,  John.    The  True  and  Blessed  Way.    Lancaster, 
1816. 

Eine    Kurtze    und    Apostolische    Antwort. 

Lancaster,  1819. 
Erlauterungs  Spiegel.     Lancaster,  1827. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  469 

Heath,  Richard.  Anabaptism — From  its  Rise  at 
Zwickau  to  its  Fall  at  Miinster,     London,  1905. 

Jenkins,  C.  P.  The  Guide  Book  to  Historic  German- 
town.     Germantown,   1904. 

Jones,  H.  P.  The  Rittenhouse  Paper  Mill.  Manu- 
script in  the  library  of  the  Pennsylvania  State 
Historical  Society. 

The  Levering  Family.     Philadelphia,  1858. 

Keyser,  Charles  S.  The  Keyser  Family.  Philadel- 
phia, 1889. 

Kalm,  Peter.  Travels  in  North  America.  London, 
1812. 

Kennedy,  J.  P.  Journal  of  the  House  (Va.)  of  Burg- 
esses, 1773-1776.     Richmond,  1905. 

Kilty,  W.  Laws  of  Maryland.  Annapolis,  1800.  2 
Vol. 

Kilty,  Harris,  and  Watkins.  Laws  of  Maryland,  1799- 
1818.    Annapolis,  1818.    4  Vol. 

Kercheval,  Samuel.  A  History  of  the  Valley  of  Vir- 
ginia.   Woodstock,  Va.,  1850. 

Kuhns,  Oscar.  The  German  and  Swiss  Settlements 
of  Colonial   Pennsylvania.     New  York,   1901. 

King,  Henry  M.    Religious  Liberty.   Providence,  1903. 

Keller,  Ludwig.     Hans  Denck.     1882. 

Wiedertaufer.    1880. 

Die  Reformation.     1885. 

Die  .Waldenser.     1886. 

Klaasen,  M.     Geschichte  der  Taufgesinnten.     1873. 

Kennedy,  Robert  P.  Historical  Review  of  Logan 
County,  Ohio.  Chicago,  1903.  Has  a  good  article 
on  Amish  of  Logan  county,  by  Bishop  David 
Plank. 

Krehbiel,  H.  P.  History  of  the  General  Conference 
of  Mennonites  of  America.     St.  Louis,  1898. 

Locke,  Mary  Stoughton.  Antislavery  in  America, 
Radcliffe  College  Monographs.     Boston,  1901. 


470  MENNONITES    OF   AMERICA 

Le  Fevre,  Ralph.  History  of  New  Paltz.  Albany, 
N.  Y.,  1903. 

Landis,  D.  B.    The  Landis  Family.     Lancaster,  1888. 

Laws  of  Maryland.    (Hughes),  1834.    Annapolis,  1835. 

Miiller,  Ernst.  Geschichte  der  Bernischen  Taufer. 
Frauenfeld,  1895.  This  book  contains  many  orig- 
inal letters  and  lists  of  names  of  Bernese  Men- 
nonites  at  about  the  time  of  the  emigration  to 
Pennsylvania.  It  is  the  best  source  for  the  Euro- 
pean background  of  the  emigration  to  Lancaster 
county. 

Mombcrt,  J.  L  An  Authentic  History  of  Lancaster 
County.  Lancaster,  1869.  Contains  good  lists  of 
early  settlers. 

Moser,  Johannes.  Eine  Verantwortung  gegen  Daniel 
Musser's  Meidungs  Erklarung.  Lancaster,  1876. 
A  small  pamphlet  on  the  Ammansch-Mennonite 
controversy  in  Berne,  1693-1711.  It  contains 
many  original  letters  w^ith  names  of  men  who 
later  came  to   Lancaster  county. 

Mittelberger,  Gottlieb.  Journey  to  Pennsylvania  in 
the  year  1750,  and  return  to  Germany  in  the  year 
1754.  Translated  by  C.  T.  Eben.  Philadelphia, 
1898. 

Menno  Simons'  Complete  Works.  Translated  from 
the  Dutch  by  J.  F.  Funk.    Elkhart,  Ind.,  1871. 

Minute  Book  of  the  Board  of  Property.  Pennsylvania 
Archives,  Second  Series.  Vol.  XIX.  Contains 
many  notices  regarding  lands  taken  up  by  early 
settlers  in  Southeastern  Pennsylvania. 

Murphy,  H.  C.     Anthology  of  New  Netherland. 

Mennonite  Year  Book  and  Directory.  Published  by 
the  Mennonite  Board  of  Missions  and  Charities. 
Scottdale,  Pa.,  1905-. 

; Montgomery,  M.  L.  History  of  Berks  County.  Phil- 
adelphia, 1886. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  471 

Mennonite  Conferences  of  the  Valley  of  Virginia,  1835- 
1884,   Proceedings  of.     Elkhart,  Ind.,   1884. 

Matthews  and  Hungerford,  History  of  Lehigh  County 
Philadelphia,  1884.  ^' 

Martyrs  Mirror,  by  Tielman  van  Bracht.  Translated 
by  J.  F.  Sohm  from  the  Dutch.     Elkhart,  1887. 

Musser,  Daniel.  The  Reformed  Mennonite  Church; 
Its  Rise  and  Progress  with  its  Principles  and 
Doctrmes.     Lancaster,  1873 

Merx,  Otto.  Thomas  Miinzer  und  Heinrich  Pfeiffer 
1889. 

Mifflin  County  (Pa.)   Records.     From  1789  on. 

New  York  Historical  Society  Collections.  Second 
series.    Vol.  3.    Part  1.    Appleton  and  Co.,  N.  Y., 

Newman,  A.  H.  A  History  of  Antipedobaptism.  Phil- 
adelphia, 1897.  Contains  an  excellent  bibliog- 
raphy on  the  Anabaptists. 

Nitsche,  Richard,  Geschichte  der  Wiedertaufer  in  der 
Schweiz.    1885. 

Old  Rights,  Lancaster  County.  A  manuscript  collec- 
tion of  surveys,  warrants,  and  deeds  of  early 
tracts  of  lands  in  the  county.  Found  in  the  office 
of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  at  Harrisburg. 

Old  South  Leaflets,  No.  95.  A  translation  of  part  of 
Pastorius'  description  of  Pennsylvania,  with  an 
introduction  to  the  "Pennsylvania  Pilgrim"  by 
John  Greenlief  Whittier. 

O'Callahan,  E.  B.     History  of  New  Netherlands.    D 

Appleton,  1855.    2  Vol. 
i    Documentary   History   of   New   York.     4 

Vol.  Albany,  1850. 

Oberholtzer,  John  H.  Aufschlusz  der  Verfolgungen 
gegen  Daniel  Hoch  von  Canada.    1853. 


472  MENNONITES    OF   AMERICA 


Verantwortung  und  Erlauterung  .    Milford 


Square,  Pa.,  1860. 

Osiander,  Lucas.     Eine  Predigt  von  dem  Wiedertauf. 

1582. 

Pennylvania  German  Society,  Proceedings.  Published 
by  the  Society.     18  Vol.     Lancaster,  1891 — . 

Pennsylvania  Archives,  Philadelphia  and  Harrisburg, 
1852-1902.     Four  Series. 

Pastorius,  Franz  Daniel.  Beschreibung  von  Penn- 
sylvanien,  1700.  This  work  is  edited  with  an  in- 
troduction by  Frederick  Kapp,  and  published  at 
Crefeld,  1884. 

Pennypacker,  Samuel  W.  Historical  and  Biographical 
Sketches.  Philadelphia,  1883.  Includes  the  Set- 
tlement of  Germantown,  Christopher  Dock,  Der 
Blutige   Schau   Platz,   David   Rittenhouse,   etc. 

Annals  of  Phoenixville.    Philadelphia,  1872. 

Hendrick  Pennebecker.     Philadelphia,  1894. 

The  Pennypacker  Reunion.     Philadelphia, 

1877. 

Bebbers  Township  and  the  Dutch  Patroons 


of  Pennsylvania.     Published  in  the  Pennsylvania 
Magazine  of  History,  Jan.,  1907. 

Pennsylvania    German    Society,    Proceed- 


ings. Vol.  IX,  Contains  a  revised  reprint  of  the 
sketches  in  Historical  and  Biographical  Sketches, 
with  additional  articles  on  Mennonites. 

Philip,  Dirck,  Enchiridion  oder  Handbiichlein.  Lan- 
caster, 1811. 

Peachey,  S.  M.  Memorial  History  of  Peter  Bitche. 
Lancaster,  1892. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  473 

Poore,  B.  F.  Charters  and  Constitutions.  Washing- 
ton, 1878. 

Penn-Logan  Correspondence.  Published  by  the  Penn- 
sylvania Historical   Society.     1872.     2  Vol. 

Perkiomen  Region.  The  Past  and  Present.  Edited 
by  H.  S.  Dotterer.  Issued  periodically.  Phila- 
delphia, 1895—. 

Proud,  Robert.  The  History  of  Pennsylvania  in  North 
America.    Philadelphia,  1797.    2  Vol. 

Pennsylvania  Magazine  of  History  and  Biography. 
Published  by  the  Pennsylvania  State  Historical 
Society,  Philadelphia.     Vol's.  1-22. 

Quack,  H.  P.  G.  "Plockhoy's  Social  Planen,"  in  Beel- 
den  en  Groepen.    Amsterdam,  1892. 

Rockingham  Register,  Harrisonburg,  Va.,  for  June  14, 
and  July  26,  1895.  Contains  good  sketches  of 
Virginia  Mennonites  by  L.  J.  Heatwole, 

Rupp,  I.  D.  History  of  Lancaster  County.  Lancaster, 
1844.  ,For  many  things  still  the  source  of  all 
later  histories  of  the  county. 

A  Collection  of  Upwards  of  Thirty  Thous- 
and Names  of  German,  Swiss,  Dutch,  French  and 
other  Immigrants  to  Pennsylvania  (1727-1776). 
Of  great  value  to  the  genealogist.  The  same  list 
with  index  is  found  in  Pennsylvania  Archives. 
Second  series.     Vol.  XVII. 

The  Religious  Denominations  of  the  United 


States.     Philadelphia,  1844. 

Ruofif,  Ph.  D.,  H.  W.    History  of  Montgomery  County. 
Philadelphia,  1895. 

Regier,   Peter.     Kurtzgefaszte   Geschichte   der   Men- 
noniten  Briider  Gemeinde.     Berne,  Ind.,  1901. 


474  MENNONITES    OF   AMERICA 

Reiswick  und  Wadzek.  Beitrage  zur  Kenntnis  der 
Mennoniten    Gemeinde.      Berlin,    1821. 

Rockingham  County  (Va.)   Records.     From  1777  on. 

Runk  &  Co.  Biographical  Encyclopedia  of  Juniata 
County,  Pennsylvania.    Chambersburg,  Pa.,  1897. 

Sewell,  William.     History  of  the  Quakers. 

Story,  Thomas.     Journal.     Newcastle  on  Tyne,  1747. 

Seidensticker,  Oswald.  Bilder  aus  der  Deutsch-Penn- 
sylvanischen  Geschichte.     New  York,  1886. 

First     Century    of    German     Printing    in 

America,  from   1728  to   1830. 

Sachse,  Julius  F.  The  German  Sectarians  of  Penn- 
sylvania.    Philadelphia,  1899. 

The  German  Pietists  of  Provincial  Penn- 
sylvania.    Philadelphia,   1896. 

Letters  Relating  to  the  Settlement  of  Ger- 


mantown.     Philadelphia,  1903. 

Strieper  Papers.  In  Manuscript  in  the  Bucks  county 
collection  in  the  library  of  the  Pennsylvania  State 
Historical  Society.  They  include  a  number  of 
letters  writen  by  the  early  Striepers  of  German- 
town  to  their  friends  in  Holland. 

Sharpless,  Isaac.  Quakerism  and  Politics.  Philadel- 
phia, 1905. 

A    Quaker    Experiment    in    Government. 

Philadelphia,  1898. 

Shoemaker,  B.  H.  The  Shoemaker  Family  of  Chel- 
tenham.    Philadelphia,  1903. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  475 

Scheffer,  Hoop  de  J.  G.  Inventaris  der  Archief  Stuk- 
ken  Berustende  bij  de  Vereenigde  Doopsgezinde 
Gemeente  to  Amsterdam.  A  catalogue  of  docu- 
ments and  books  in  the  Mennonite  church  in 
Amsterdam.  It  contains  the  titles  and  often  the 
substance  of  many  letters  that  were  written  from 
Switzerland  and  other  parts  of  Europe  to  the 
Mennonites  in  Amsterdam  and  also  several  letters 
written  from  Pennsylvania. 

The    Mennonite    Emigration    to    Pennsyl- 


vania. Translated  from  the  Dutch  by  S.  W. 
Pennypacker  in  Pennsylvania  Magazine  of  His- 
tory.    Vol.  2. 

Geschichte  der  Reformation  in  den  Nieder- 


landen. 

Schmidt,  C.  B.  Reminiscences  of  Foreign  Immigra- 
tion Work.  An  address  at  the  Fourth  Annual 
Convention  of  the  Colorado  State  Realty  Associa- 
tion.   Held  at  Colorado  Springs,  June  20-23,  1905. 

Stuckey,  Joseph.  Eine  Begebenheit  die  sich  in  der 
Mennoniten  Gemeinde  in  Deutschland  und  in  der 
Schweitz  von  1693  bis  1700  zugetragen  hat.  Elk- 
hart, Ind.,  1883. 

Suderman,  Leonard.  Eine  Deputations  Reise  von 
Russland  nach  America.     Elkhart,  1897. 

Stemen,  C.  B.  History  of  the  Stemen  Family.  Fort 
Wayne,  Ind.,  1881. 

Souder, .    History  of  Franconia  Township.    Har- 

leysville,   Pa.,   1896. 


476  MENNONITES    OF    AMERICA 

Stockwell,  A.  P.    History  of  Gravesend,  Long  Island. 

Scott,  Harvey,  History  of  Fairfield  County,  Ohio. 
1887.  See  article  by  Joseph  Kurtz  on  the  Amislr 
settlements  of  the  county. 

Stapleton,  A.  Memorial  of  Huguenots  in  America. 
Carlisle,  Pa.,  1901. 

Stauffer,  Jacob.  Eine  Chronik  oder  Geschicht-Buch- 
lein  von  der  so  genannten  Mennonisten  Gemeinde. 
Lancaster,  1855. 

Schyn,  H.  Historia  Mennonitorium.  A.msterdam, 
1723. 

Starck,  J.  A.  Geschichte  der  Taufe  und  Taufgesinn- 
ten.    Leipzig,  1789. 

Senate  Document  V.  26,  58.    Cong.,  Second  session. 

Statutes  at  Large  of  the  Confederate  States  of  Ameri- 
ca.    Ed.  by  Matthews.     Richmond,  1864.     2  Vol. 

Statutes  at  Large  of  Pennsylvania,  1682-1801.  Har- 
risburg,  1897.     4  Vol. 

Taylor  Papers.  Land  surveys  in  Lancaster  county 
before  1734.  In  collection  of  manuscripts  in 
library  of  Pennsylvania  State  Historical  Society. 

Troyer,  David  A,  Eine  Unpartheischer  Bericht  von 
den  Hauptumstanden  welche  sich  ereigneten  in 
den  so-genannten  Alt  Amischen  Gemeinden  in 
Ohio  vom  Jahr  1850  bis  ungefahr  1861  wodurch 
endlich  eine  vollkommene  Spaltung  entstand. 

The  Christian  Confession  of  Faith  of  the  harmless 
Christians  in  the  Netherlands  knowti  as  Mennon- 
ists.     First  printed  in  English  at  Amsterdam  in 

1712.     Reprinted   by  A.   Bradford,    Philadelphia, 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  477- 

1727.     Very  rare.     A  copy  in  the  library  of  the- 
Pennsylvania  Historical  Society. 

Ten  Gate,  Bl.  Geschiedenis  der  Doopsgezinden  in 
Groningen,  Overyssel,  en  Friesland.     1842. 

United  States  Statutes  at  Large,  13  Vol. 

Votes  and  Proceedings  of  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives of  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania.  Phila- 
delphia,   1776.    6  Vol. 

Wayland,  Ph.  D.,  John  W.  The  German  Element  of 
the  Shenandoah  Valley  of  Virginia.  Charlottes- 
ville, Va.,  1907.  Contains  many  references  to  the 
Mennonites  of  Virginia. 

Woolman,  John.     Journal.     Philadelphia,   1864. 

Watson,  J.  F.  Annals  of  Philadelphia  and  Pennsyl- 
vania, in  the  Olden  Time.  Philadelphia,  1891.  3 
Vol. 

Wedel,  C.  H.  Abrisz  der  Geschichte  der  Alennoniten. 
Newton,  Kansas,  1904.  A  good  brief  summary  of 
the  whole  field  of  Mennonite  history. 

Wing,  Conway  P.  History  of  Cumberland  County,. 
Pa.     Philadelphia,  1879. 

Warner  Beers  &  Co.,  History  of  Franklin  County,  Pa. 
Chicago,  1887. 

Wickersham,  J.   P.     History  of  Education  in   Penn- 
'     sylvania.      Lancaster,    1886. 

Weingarten,  Herman.  Die  Revolutions  Kirchen  Eng- 
lands.     Leipzig,  1868. 

Zook,  Shem.  Eine  wahre  Darstellung  von  dem  wel- 
ches uns  das  Evangelium  in  der  Reinheit  lehrt,  so- 
wie  auch  ein  unpartheischer  Bericht  von  den 
Haupt  Umstanden  welche  sich  in  underschiedlich- 


478  MENNONITES    OF   AMERICA 

en  Gemeinden  ereigneten  woraus  endlich  die  un- 
christlichen  Spaltungen  entstanden  sind.  Mat- 
tawana,  Pa.,  1880. 

zur  Linden,  Otto  Friedrich.     Melchior  Hoffman,  ein 
Prophet  der  Wiedertaufer.     1885. 


INDEX 


Allebach,   Christian   184 
Alstadt   28 

A  Lasco,  John  60,  417 
Albrecht,    Joseph    and    Com- 
pany 418 
Amish    160 

Canada  226 

Doctrine    and   practice    234 

Diener   Versammlung   239 

Early  Life  213 

Egli  defection  247 

First    in    America    210 

In    Ohio   216 

In    Indiana    221 

In   Illinois   228 

In  Nebraska  233 

In   Missouri  233 

In  Kansas  234 

In   Iowa  223 

Immigration   from    1820  to 
1850    225 

New  York  227 

New  Amish  243 

Origin    208 

Old  Order  241 

The      Stuckey      congrega- 
tions 248 
Anabaptists  17 
Arets,   Lenart   101 
Armbruster,  Aaron  421 
Arnold,  Gottfried  420 
Augsburger,    Christian   218 
Ausbund  431,  432 

Baer,   Martin   177 
Baer,  J.  B.  449 
Baer   Almanac   442 


Baer,    Johann    418,    444 

Ban  49 

Baptists,    Seventh    Day    180, 

Baptism,    infant    20 

Basel  32 

Bechtley,    Jacob    186 

Beissel,  Conrad  180 

415 
Bender,  D.  H.  404,  448 
Berne  32 

Bergey,   Hans   Ulrich    184 
Bethel  College  401,  449 
Blanch,  Christian  196,  214 
Blauch,  Jacob   196 
Blaurock,  George  19,  40,  433 
Blosser,  John  405,  448 
Bluffton  College  449 
Bowman,  Wendal   146,   169 
Bowman,   Johannes    177 
Boehm,  Martin   177,   181,  216 
Bouwens,    Leonard    53 
Bonnet   390 

Brenneman,    Daniel   308,   311 
Brethren    22,    31 
Brodli,   Hass  22,  23 
Brechbuhl,    B.    140.    142 
Brunner,  C.  H.  449 
Brubacher,  J.  N.  448 
Brueder  Gemeinde  341 
Burghaltzer,   Hans   177 
Burkhart,    Christian    198 
Burchi,   Hans    140,    142 
Bullinger,  Heinrich  41,  49 
Byers,  N.  E.  402,  448 

Castelberger  22 
Charter  of  Paul   I  325 


480 


MENNONITES    OF   AMERICA 


Church    Government  390 
Chiliasm  37 

Christlicher    Bundesbote    444 
Church  of  God  305 
Civil  government  48 
Clemmer,   Velte    184 
Conestoga    wagon    163 
Collegiants  68 
Coffman,  J.  S.  274 
Community  of  goods  22,  50 
Conferences    390 
Confession  of  faith  410 
Conscription  Act  of  1864  2>76 
Confederate         Conscription 

Acts  382 
Cof=fman,   S.   F.  448 
Crefeld    101 

Cumberland   valley    193 
Customs   386 
Culture  386 

Banner,  Michael   193 

Denk,  Hans  33,  37,  40 

Der    Lobgesang   439 

Der  Evangelische  Botschaft- 
er  444 

Detweiler,  I.  R.  448 

Denner,  Jacob  419 

Deknatel,  Johann  419,  420 

Diener   Versammlung   239 

Die  Kleine  Geistliche  Harfe 
440 

Die  Frohe  Botschaft  249 

Die  Wandelnde  Seele  420 

Doctrines  of  early  Anabap- 
tists 22 

Dock,  Christopher  422,  423, 
427 

Eby,  Hans  270 
Eby  Benjamin  431 
Ebersole,  Abraham    159 
Eby   Isaac  448 
Eckerlin,  Michael  181 
Egli  defection  246 
Egli  C.  R.  451 
Ehrenfried,   Joseph   415,   479, 

443 
Ein  Spiegel  der  Taufe  421 
Ein  Spiegel  der  Wahrheit  431 


Eicher,    Johannes    160 
Eicher  church  225 
Elkhart    Institute   401 
Engle,    Christian    229 
Enchiridion  418 
Ephrata  181 
Erlauterungs    Spiegel    428 

Faber,   Gellius  417 
Fairfax  controversy  203 
Feet-washing  387 
Franconia   183 

Bucks   county    185 

Berks  county  186 

Chester   county   187 

Every  day  life    189 

Literary  activity   190 

Skippack   region    183 
Frick,  Conrad  159 
Frank   Sebastian   32,   36 
Friesland    39 
Funk,   Christian  427 
Funk,  Hans   159,  168 
Funk,   Henry  184 
Funk,  Heinrich  415,  421 
Funk,  J.  F.  329,  401,  404,  416, 

431,  447 
Fundament  Buch  418 
Funk,  Joseph  441 

Gerber,    Samuel   450 
Gerig,    Sebastian    450 
Gerig,    Benj.    450 
Geistliches    Blumen    Gartlein 

420 
Germantown  94 
Germans   in    Virginia    199 
Godshalk,  Herman   184 
Graybil,    John    196 
Good  Jacob   198 
Gnaegi,  Christian  214 
Goshen   College   401 
Gospel  Herald  447 
Gospel   Witness   445 
Goerz,    David    449 
Gospel  Banner  449 
Graff,  Hans   146,  155 
Grubb,  N.  B.  431,  449 
Grebel,  Conrad  19.  30,  31,  40 
Giildene    Aepfel    420 


INDEX 


481 


Halteman,  Hans  159 
Haury,  S.   S.  403 
Haszlibach,  Hans  434 
Hartzler,  J.  E.  448 
Haszlibacher  Lied  434 
Hartzler,  J.  S.  401,  405,  448 
Harmonia  Sacra  441,  444 
Herr,  Christian  173,  177 
Hessians  231 
Heatwole,  L.  J.  315,  448 
Herald  of  Truth  445 
Heilsbote  452 
Hershey,    Benedict    169 

Herr,    Hans    168,    146 
Herr,  John  292,  418,  428 

Herstein,  John  419 
Hetzer,   Ludwig  32 

Hirschi,   Benedict   177 

Hostater,    Jacob    210 

Hostetler,   Oswald   159 

Horekill  82 

Hoffman,  Melchior  33,  38,  40, 
47 

Horsch,  John  431 

Holdeman,  John  305,  430 

Hostetler,  C.  K.  405 

Hoch,   Daniel   344 

Hocking  valley  275 

Hubmeir,  Balthasar  31,  33,  35 
35 

Hut,  Hans  33,  34,  37,  47 

Hungary  38 

Huss,  John  433 


Illinois   Conference   of   Men- 

nonites  248 
Ingolstadt   36 
Indian  Creek  184 
Indian  Raids  202 


Jansen,  Peter  340 
Jotter,  Christian  160 
Johns,  D.  J.  401,  405,  450 
Juniata   196 


Kauflfman,  Daniel  431 
Kendigh,  Martin  159 


Kendig,  Martin  146,  168 
Keller,  Ludwig  20 
Keyser,  Dirck  109 
Kishacoquillas   valley  215 
Kistler,  Michael  231 
King,  Joseph  252 
Kindig,  Benjamin  254 
Kirchmeyer    36 
Kliewer,  J.  J.  449 
Kolb,  A.  B.  404 
Kolb,  Jacob  184 
Kt)lb,  Dielman  184,  159,  415 
Kolb,  Martin   184 
Krehbiel,  J.  C.  345 
Krehbiel,  Christian  330,  449 
Krehbiel,  H.  P.  350,  431,  449 
Krehbiel,  Daniel  399 
Kurtz,   Heinrich   418 
Kurzgefaszte        Kirchen-Ge- 

schichte  431 
Kiunders,  Thones  101 

Landis,  Benjamin  177 
Lambert,  George  406,  448 
Lantz,  Lee  252 
Leyden,   John    of   41,    50,   60, 

406,  417,  448 
Leaman,  A.  H.  448 
Lensen,  Jan  101 
Lincoln   county   266 
Linville  valley  204 
Longacre,    Christian    159 
Longeneker,  Daniel   186 
Logan  county  220 
Loucks,  Aaron  448 

Mack,  A.  S.  448 

Mack,  Noah  H.  448 

Manitoba    336 

Manz,  Felix  19,  30,  31,  433 

Matthys,  Jan  40 

Martyrs    Mirror   411 

Maryland  198 

Meilin,  Martin  169,  146 

Mennonite    Printing    Presses 

Mennonite  Board  of  Guard- 
ians 334 

Mennonite  Executive  Aid 
Committe  334 


482 


MENNONITES    OF   AMERICA 


Mennonite    Publishing    Com- 
pany 404,  416 
Mennonites 

And  the  State  352 

Attitude   toward  civil   gov- 
ernment  352 

Attitude    toward    Learning 
397 

As  Pioneers  290 

During  the  Civil  War  315 

Exemptions  from  the  Oath 
357      _ 

Exemptions    from    military- 
service  365 

First  use  of  name  65 

First  in  America  81 

General  Conference  343 

In   Ontario  265 

In  Prussia  78 

In   Switzerland   74 

In  the  Palatinate  76 

In   Netherlands  66 

Literature      and      Hymnol- 
ogy  409 

Mennonite      Brethren      in 
Christ  310 

Origin   of   Doctrine   386 

Protest  Against  Slavery  120 

Relation  to  English  Separ- 
atists 71 

Reformed  292 

Swiss  in  America  277,  282 

Virtues  406 

Wisler  307 
Menno  Simons 

Birth  53 

Beliefs  58 

Controversial  writings  56 

Death  62 

Influence  64 

Public  disputations  61 

Price   set  on  his   head  61 

Renunciation  of  Rome  55 

Works  of  416 
Missions  403 

Miller,  D.  D.  401,  405,  450 
Miller,  Jacob  216 
Miller,  Levi  450 
Miller,  Peter  415 


Miller,  S.  H.  450 
Moseman,   Michael  230,  247 
Molotschna  325 
Micronius,   Martin  417 
Mirror   for    all    Mankind   428 
Millenarianism    ZT ,    40 
Munzer,   Thomas    24,   25,    26, 
Musser,  Daniel  428 

444 

Z7 
Miinster  40 
Muhlhausen   38 

Nageli,   Rudolf   180 
Naffziger,  Christian  226 
Newcomer,   Christian   159 
Neus,  Hans  110 
New  Amish  242 
Netherlands  41 
Non-resistance    40 
Nold,  Jacob  427 

Oberholtzer,   J.   H.   298,   343, 

430,  444 
Op  den  Graff,  Abraham  101 
Op  den  Graff,  Dirck  101 
Overholts,   Martin   146 

Pastorius,  Franz  Daniel  102 
Page,  W.  B.  406 
Pennsylvania  Dutch  393 
Pennebeker,  Hendrick  110 
Peters,  Isaac  342 
Penner,  J.  A.  404 
Persecution  31,  36,  98 
Perkiomen  creek,   184 
Pequea  colony 

Early  Preachers   177 
Church  Buildings  173 
Not  Proselyters  181 
Naturalization    166 
Relation  to  Indians  164 
Redemptioners    171 
Relation  to  Dunkards  178 
Settlement  134 
Secular  life  161 
Pennypacker,  S.  W.  415 
Philharmonia  442 
Philip,  Obbe  53 


INDEX 


483 


Philip,  Dirck  S3,  418 
Pingjum  53 
Pitscha,  Ulrich   159 
Plank,  Melchior  172 
Plockhoy,     Pieter     Cornelisz 

81 
Principles,   386 
Prayer    Head-covering    388 
Putnam  county  230 

Ramsauer,  Heinrich  159 
Reiff,  John   198 
Revolutionary  War  253 
Religioser    Botschafter    324, 

444 
Ressler,  J.  A.  405,  448 
Reublin,  William  19,  31,  35 
Rebaptism   23 
Rink,  Melchior  39 
Rittinghuysen,     Willem     109, 

117 
Root,  Ulrich  159 
Ropp,  Andrew  230 
Ropp,  Christian  230,  250 
Ruth,  Henry  184 
Russian  Immigration  324 
Rupp,  I.  D.  416 

Sauer,  Christopher  422,  442 
Schleitheim     Confession     22, 

42 
Schantz,  J.  Y.  329 
Schertz   David  234 
Schlegel,  Joseph  234,  450 
Schaffhausen  31,  35 
Schantz,  Peter  252 
Schisms  291 

Schellenberger,   Peter    159 
Schantz,   Ben   177 
Schulordnung  427 
Showalter,  Christian  346,  400 
Shoemaker,  J.  S.  405,  448 
Shelley,  A.  S.  449 
Skippack  119 
Slavery  206 
Smith,  John  450 
Smutz,  John  419 
Snyder,  Sicke  54 
Somerset  county  214 


Sohm,  J.  F.  416 

Sommer,  I.  A.  449 

Sprunger,  S.  F.  349 

Stauffer  Jacob  304 

Storch,  Niclas  24 

Steiner,   M.   S.   404,   406,  431, 

Stutzman,  Jacob   159 

Stumpf,  Simon  18,  50 

St.  Gallen  32 

Strasburg  39,  40 

438 
Strickler,  Abraham   199,   161 
Strickler,   Jacob   200 
Stuckey,  Joseph  240,  248 
Strubhar,  Valentine  252 

Tazewell  county  229 
Telner,  Jacob  100 
Tithes  50 

Troyer,    Emanuel   252 
Tuscarawas  county  216 
Tyson,  Reynier  101 

Van  Bebber,  Isaac  Jacob  109 
Van   der    Smissen,    C.    H.   A. 

449 
Van  der  Smissen,  C.  J.  400 
Verantwortung  und  Erlauter- 

ung  430 
Virginia   199 
Von  Todtleben  331 

War,  Civil  314 

Revolutionary  253 
Warkentin,  Bernard  334 
Waldenses  17,  24,  39 
Waldshut  28,  31,  35 
Wadsworth  school  400 
Wayne  county  218 
War  taxes  254 
Waterloo  county  267 
Wagner,  Jorg  433 
West  Point  345 
Wenger,  Christian   159 
Wedel,  C.  H.  401,  449 
Wenger,  A.  D.  405,  448 
Westmoreland  county  196 
West  Point  Colony  223 


484 


MENNONITES    OF   AMERICA 


Weil  nun  die  zeit  Vorhanden 

ist  438 
Wenger,   Martin  442 
Webersthal   156 
Wesley  City  228 
Witmarsum  53 
Wilmot  Township  227 
Wisler,  Jacob  307 
Woodford  county  229 

Yoder,   Jacob    160 


York  county  193 
Yoder,  J.  K.  240 
Yoder,  C.  Z.  450 

Zooks,  160 

Zook,   Moritz   160,  211 

Zook,  Shem  240,  416 

Zook,  Abe  242 

Zug,  Peter   159 

Zurich   18 

Zwickau  Prophets  25 


